Collecting firewood

You can only collect firewood from designated collection areas in State forests during the autumn and spring domestic firewood collection seasons.

Before heading out, find your nearest collection area online via the Forest Fire Management Victoria website or ask for a current firewood collection area map from your nearest DEECA office. When you’re in the forest, look for the 'Domestic Firewood Collection Area' signposts.

Please note, that firewood collection in some areas is restricted to Local Government Area residents only.

Other areas:

• Firewood collection from roadsides is generally prohibited but may be allowed with a permit on select local government roads.
• Parks Victoria does not allow firewood collection in the protected areas they manage, including national, state, regional and metropolitan parks.

Note: It is always illegal to cut down standing trees without express permission.

You can collect firewood during the two collection seasons:

• Autumn season: 1 March to 30 June
• Spring season: 1 September to 30 November

These periods are chosen to avoid collection during summer when fire danger is high and winter when roads and tracks are most likely to be damaged.

Collection seasons are also subject to local conditions and areas may be closed at short notice. Check online via the Forest Fire Management Victoria website for updates.

In designated firewood collection areas, you can collect wood from trees and branches that:

• are already on the ground,
• are further than 20 metres from a waterway or waterhole (like a bog or dam),
• are not visibly hollow, and
• do not have moss or fungi growing on them.

It is illegal to chop down trees or branches if they’re still standing, whether they are dead or alive.

These rules protect habitat for our wildlife and protect forest health.

You can collect two cubic metres of firewood per person per day. The limit for each household is 16 cubic metres per financial year.

A single cubic metre of split firewood will fit into a standard trailer of about 1.8 metres by 1.2 metres if it’s neatly stacked to a height of 50cm.

Some households in regional areas rely on firewood for winter energy. Financial assistance is available for people on low incomes who need to buy firewood. For more information visit the Forest Fire Management Victoria website.

You can nominate someone to collect firewood on your behalf.

You’ll need to print out and complete a nomination form and give it to the person who will be collecting your firewood. Nominated persons must carry the form with them when collecting their firewood. The nomination form is available at the link below.

You can use a vehicle when collecting firewood, but please remember:

• You must follow all public land vehicle use rules, e.g. driving only on formed roads or established tracks. This means you may need to park on the side of the road, then carry the firewood to your car by hand or using a wheelbarrow.
• You’re not allowed to tow or winch fallen trees along the ground, as this damages the land.

You cannot bring in or use heavy vehicles with a gross vehicle mass of more than 4.5 tonnes which you would need a heavy vehicle licence to operate.

When collecting, you can use small equipment, like a chainsaw, axe, or handsaw.

You can’t use heavy machinery, including a bulldozer, crane, excavator, forwarder, hydraulic log splitter, saw bench, skidder, skid steer loader, or a tractor.

To protect yourself and the environment:

• Never use a chainsaw during a declared Total Fire Ban.
• Make sure your chainsaw is fitted with a proper exhaust and spark arrester.
• Only refill chainsaw oil or fuel on a hard surface where liquid can’t leach into the forest soil.

Always use necessary safety equipment: chaps, gloves, boots, eye and ear protection.

In Victoria, you can only use firewood collected from State forest for personal use, such as at home or for camping. You can’t sell it to someone else. This is to make sure everyone gets a fair share, and people aren’t using a community resource for personal gain.

Have you heard chainsaws at night? Or seen vehicles and trailers coming in and out of the forest loaded up with firewood outside of collection seasons?

If you think someone might be selling firewood illegally, or illegally cutting and removing timber from public land you can make an anonymous report by calling us on 136 186.

Authorised Officers regularly patrol State forests targeting illegal firewood theft and run dedicated enforcement operations with other public land authorities. Authorised Officers can issue on-the-spot fines or pursue court proceedings.

The Victorian Government provides financial support and energy efficiency programs to help people with the cost of energy. To read about the different programs available and check your eligibility, visit the Energy concession and support page.