Sonora, CA…Due to an error, individuals purchasing Christmas Trees from the Stanislaus National Forest were incorrectly charged. Those charged $20 per tree will see a $10 per tree refund to the account they used to purchase the permit from Recreation.gov.

This issue impacts only those individuals who purchased their permit for the Stanislaus National Forest’s Christmas Tree program.

As noted in the table of proposed fees agreed upon by the March 2024 Resource Advisory Committee and approved by Pacific Southwest Regional Forester, Jennifer Eberlien, prices for Christmas Trees are $10 for calendar years 2024 and 2025 becoming $20 in 2026. (copy of fee table is attached)

“We deeply regret this error made by the forest and are working closely with our partners at Recreation.gov to ensure all those impacted by this mistake are given the refund they deserve,” said Forest Public Affairs Officer, Benjamin Cossel.

All existing Christmas Tree Permits will remain valid. Over the next few days, individuals impacted by this error will receive an email notification from Recreation.gov. As the forest’s reservation service, Recreation.gov is committed to providing visitor refunds quickly for this localized issue. Impacted visitors will receive a $10 per tree refund. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be credited to the original bank or credit card used to pay.

“We strive to do our best to not make mistakes,” said Cossel. “But mistakes do happen and that’s why we have multiple checks in the system. Our deliberative process of checks and balances worked – we made a mistake on the forest, it was caught by our Washington Office folks and we immediately changed the initial cost and began identifying customers impacted by this to begin the refund process for those individuals.”

Any questions or concerns should be directed to Forest Public Affairs Officer, Benjamin Cossel: benjamin.cossel@usda.gov or 209.288.6261.