PORT ORCHARD — If one of your holiday traditions involves cutting down your own Christmas tree, now is the time to purchase your permit to do so.

Permits to cut a tree on National Forest land went on sale Nov. 12 at Olympic National Forest offices. Visitors will need to drop by agency offices in Olympia, Quilcene or Quinault and purchase their $5 permit. Families with fourth-graders who have an Every Kid Outdoors Pass can get a free cutting permit. The child must be present when picking up the permit, the agency said.

Informational material and a map showing where to harvest your tree will be included with the permit.

A new requirement this year: cut trees can’t be taller than 15 feet.

For more information, call the U.S. Forest Service at 360-956-2402 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/olympic.

Keith Thorpe | Peninsula Daily News Shaylin Lowe, 8, of Port Angeles drags a freshly cut tree back to the family car as part of an outing to cut their own Christmas tree at Lazy J Tree Farm east of Port Angeles.