Permits to cut own Christmas tree for sale

For $5, and likely some numb toes, the adventuresome can cut down their own Christmas trees from Idaho’s publicly owned forests.

Christmas tree permits are available at U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management offices. Maps and information on where trees may be harvested are also available at the following offices:

“Forest supervisor’s office, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene, (208) 765-7223

“Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, Fernan office, 2502 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene, (208) 769-3000

“Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, Silver Valley office, 173 Commerce Drive, Smelterville, (208) 783-2100

“Priest Lake Ranger District, 32203 Highway 57, Priest River, (208) 443-2512

“Bonners Ferry Ranger District, 6286 Main St., Bonners Ferry, (208) 267-5561

“Sandpoint Ranger District, 1500 Highway 2, Sandpoint, (208) 263-5111

“St. Joe Ranger District, St. Maries office, 222 S. Seventh, St. Maries, (208) 245-2531

“St. Joe Ranger District, Avery office, (208) 245-4517

OLYMPIA

Auditor will release performance reviews

The first in a series of state agency performance reviews, ordered by Washington voters, will be delivered by the end of the year, the state auditor says.

Auditor Brian Sonntag won broad authority to conduct government performance audits when voters approved Initiative 900 last year. Sonntag told the Olympian newspaper that his first reports will examine the state motor pool and state government’s debt collection systems.

Those programs were slated for early audits in part because “they’re broad enough and far-reaching that they cover a lot,” Sonntag said.

“As much as anything, they’re easy to do. They’re good places for us to jump into and get our feet wet,” he said.

One audit will look for savings in the Department of General Administration’s fleet of 1,368 vehicles, such as ways to eliminate redundant maintenance shops.

The debt collection audit will look for ways to collect more of some $3.3 billion owed to the state through six different agencies, perhaps by centralizing collection functions.

GARDEN VALLEY, Idaho

Lumber mill burns; fire cause unknown

A Thanksgiving evening fire in this mountain town along the Payette River destroyed a family owned lumber mill that sold beams for high-end homes in resort communities throughout the West, including Sun Valley and Crested Butte, Colo.

The blaze at the Payette River Lumber Co. started about 7 p.m. Crews used water tankers to draw water from the Payette River and were still working early Friday to douse the remaining embers.

The cause hasn’t been determined, though the mill owner said some maintenance work had been completed during the day.

“We’re looking at electrical,” said owner Alan Ward, who has operated the mill since 1988. “It was such a hot burn, we may never know for sure.”

He plans to rebuild at the site.

“We’re not quitters,” Ward said.

– From staff and wire reports