For a $5 permit you can cut your Christmas tree in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest

With thoughts of Santa Claus and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer arriving earlier each year, forest officials jumped on the bandwagon also by announcing that permits are now on sale for cutting of Christmas trees in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

The permits, which cost $5, are valid in most of the forest's 4 million acres, except for those areas designated as administrative sites or tree plantations.

You can purchase a permit at the forest headquarters at 215 Melody Lane in Wenatchee or at selected area retail stores. The permits will also serve as parking permits at trail heads until the first snow fall, after which those lots become Sno-Parks, and tree hunters will need a state Sno-Park permit to leave their vehicles there.