Pining to Chop Till You Drop?

Mark Bethke is a U.S. Forest Service ranger in cool khakis. He’s standing on a mountain powdered with snow, squinting into a soft December sun at the Jeffrey pines bound for a blaze of artificially lit glory.

Oh, they are not so pretty, these pines with gaps between branches big enough to hang a chain saw or two. Charlie Brown trees, really--even Bethke admits this, in his simpatico earth-toned uniform. But here on Frazier Mountain, where red-tailed hawks swoop and black bears prowl, Southern California folks come to look for more than just a Christmas tree in woods wrapped with whitethorn brush and sage: They’re after that storybook Christmas.

“It would be pretty cool,” says Bethke, who fires a snowball between the pines for no reason other than the spirit of the Great Outdoors that moves him, “if you were to cut your own tree here and drag it through the snow.”

In fact, with a coveted $2 permit in hand, hundreds of families will chop their own Christmas trees in the Los Padres National Forest on Saturday and Sunday and Dec. 12-13. Los Padres is the only national forest in Southern California that issues a limited number of permits to chop designated trees from a 60-acre grove in the Mt. Pinos Ranger District, north of Gorman.

Each year, the $2 permits sell out, some snapped up by urbanites who want a dreamy white Christmas, in a Bing Crosby sort of way. Not to mention a pinch of West Coast smugness: Yes, we have sun-dappled Rose Parade floats on New Year’s Day, and we cut our own Christmas trees from the forest.

But outside of the Frazier Mountain grove, rangers in Southern California’s national forests will issue citations to tree poachers. Citations carry a maximum fine of $5,000 and a six-month prison sentence, along with the possibility of additional penalties.

“Every tree up there is very important,” says Randi Jorgensen , a spokeswoman for the Angeles National Forest, the mountains often seen in the smog-vanquished postcards of Los Angeles. “Each serves an important place in the ecosystem,” by nurturing native plants and wildlife.

So far this season, in the San Bernardino, Cleveland and Los Padres national forests, rangers have not caught any tree thieves; on Tuesday , Angeles forest rangers cited a 21-year-old Victorville man for allegedly sawing down a fir. Each year, rangers also watch for visitors making off with pines or other bits of scenery including red berries, ivy and mistletoe. That doesn’t mean you can’t throw a pine cone or two in the trunk, but there are restrictions--such as a ban on snapping greenery off trees (except for mistletoe, a parasite, which can be hacked off).

In the Angeles National Forest, deck-the-hallers without permits are allowed to gather 10 fallen pine cones, one dead yucca stalk, one dead manzanita branch and one grocery bag of mistletoe. Gatherers who want more must obtain a $10 permit from a ranger station. The Cleveland National Forest--which covers parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties--requires visitors to obtain a permit if they want more than a couple of bags full of trimmings or thereabouts. (There’s a $30 minimum fee.)

But if rangers catch you with even one unauthorized Christmas tree, “we will prosecute to the full extent of the law,” Bethke says.

Hence, the holiday hullabaloo for the 500 authorized Frazier Mountain trees. Before Halloween, visitors from as far as the Bay Area start calling about the details. On the days of the sale--for 150 permits on Saturdays and 100 permits on Sundays--people line up before the ranger station opens at 8 a.m. Each family is limited to one permit, which can’t be purchased in advance. And bring your own saw. A big one, if you plan to fell one of the 30-footers.

If the weather is bad, the sale is canceled or limited to people with four-wheel-drive vehicles to navigate the unpaved, windy road.

On Wednesday, at the pine grove, four miles south of the ranger station, district forester John Kelly comes clean. Don’t expect the fat Douglas fir-type on sale at the corner lot. U.S. Forest Service employees would have cut the scragglers anyway to make room for the more robust trees, as part of a reforestation program that began 10 years ago in areas ravaged by fire. The trees that go are marked for a reason involving unholiday-like chatter on reforestation and timber management.

“The whole idea is to grow a forest--not to take the best-looking trees,” Kelly says.

And to stoke a little Christmas spirit. Families make a day of the tree cutting, filling thermoses and packing picnic lunches. Veteran tree cutters know that the sap will stain their hands, that the older trees smell like vanilla.

And they know when they leave, a Forest Service employee will remind them: Bring the trees back when you’re done for recycling. Give something back to the forest.

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Cutting-Edge Trees

Los Padres National Forest is the only national forest locally that issues a limited number of permits to chop a holiday tree.

When: Saturday and Sunday, and Dec. 12 and 13, 8:30 to 3 p.m.

Required: $2 permit, sold at Mt. Pinos Ranger Station, 34580 Lockwood Valley Road, Frazier Park. (The daily $5 National Forest Adventure Pass is waived.)

Where: Frazier Mountain.

Information: (805) 245-3731.

Road conditions: (805) 245-3449.