Top Trump department rolls out Christmas tree savings plan: ‘Making this season brighter'

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum is rolling out a Christmas tree and firewood savings plan to "make Christmas affordable again." The Trump Department of the Interior announced a "holiday affordability effort" that it said would help families save money while enjoying public lands and supporting wildfire prevention during the 2025 and 2026 winter season. Under the plan, the Bureau of Land Management is waiving, or in some cases reducing, recreation, firewood and Christmas tree permit fees through Jan. 31. Part of the plan includes a "one dollar, one tree" initiative that reduces Christmas tree permit fees by nearly 100 percent. A Department of the Interior official told Fox News Digital that Christmas tree and firewood permit fees would be reduced to $1 per tree or cord. The official said that with the current average cost for an authentic 6 to 8-foot Christmas tree being $90, and the average cost for a cord of wood is $300, the new policy could help save American families at least $388 during the holiday season. DOLLY PARTON’S HOLIDAY WONDERLAND ILLUMINATES THE TENNESSEE MOUNTAINS WITH 6 MILLION CHRISTMAS LIGHTS The department is also opening up new cutting areas in overstocked woodlands , prioritizing locations near communities, military bases, tribal areas, and rural counties that would benefit most from additional access. Additionally, the department is increasing household limits to up to 10 cords of firewood and three Christmas trees, with flexibility to remove those caps in areas with particularly abundant resources. Department believes the plan will provide "meaningful cost savings for families while promoting forest thinning and hazardous fuel reduction across millions of acres." A study by the House Committee on Natural Resources published in September found that approximately 117 million acres of federal land are at high or very high risk of wildfire, which is exacerbated by overstocked forests with hazardous dr…