How much petrified wood may I take from public land?
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On land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Bureau of Reclamation, one person may take up to 25 pounds of petrified wood a day plus one piece, and no more than 250 pounds in a calendar year, free and without a permit [1]. Friends and family may not pool their allowances to take a bigger piece, the wood is for personal use only, and power equipment is banned [1]. This page sets out that rule word for word, shows how to apply it on a real trip, and explains where it does not apply, including national parks, where taking any petrified wood is prohibited.
The rule, word for word
The limit comes from 43 CFR 3622.4, a section of the federal regulations on free use of petrified wood. Its paragraph (a) begins: "The authorized officer shall control the removal without charge of petrified wood from public lands using the following criteria:" [1]. The four criteria read:
(1) The maximum quantity of petrified wood that any one person is allowed to remove without charge per day is 25 pounds in weight plus one piece, provided that the maximum total amount that one person may remove in one calendar year shall not exceed 250 pounds. Pooling of quotas to obtain pieces larger than 250 pounds is not allowed. (2) Except for holders of permits issued under subpart 3604 of this chapter to remove museum pieces, no person shall use explosives, power equipment, including, but not limited to, tractors, bulldozers, plows, power-shovels, semi-trailers or other heavy equipment for the excavation or removal of petrified wood. (3) Petrified wood obtained under this section shall be for personal use and shall not be sold or bartered to commercial dealers. (4) The collection of petrified wood shall be accomplished in a manner that prevents hazards to public health and safety, and minimizes and mitigates environmental damage. [1]
Paragraph (b) lets the head of the agency that runs a free-use area "establish and publish additional rules for collecting petrified wood for noncommercial purposes to supplement" those limits [1]. So a local office can be stricter than the national rule, and its posted rules control where they exist.
The BLM's general collecting rule, 43 CFR 8365.1-5, sends petrified wood to this subpart rather than treating it like other rocks. Its list of what you may collect in reasonable amounts includes "Petrified wood as provided under subpart 3622 of this title;" [2]. That cross-reference is why petrified wood has a number and ordinary rocks, minerals and gemstones on BLM land do not. The general rule for those is covered on collecting on BLM land.
What the numbers mean on a collecting trip
| Situation | What the rule allows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| One person, one day | 25 pounds plus one piece | 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(1) [1] |
| One person, a whole calendar year | No more than 250 pounds in total, counting every day's take | 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(1) [1] |
| A group that wants one large log | Not allowed by pooling; each person's allowance stays separate | 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(1) [1] |
| A single specimen over 250 pounds | Needs a permit, issued only if the wood will be displayed to the public in a museum or similar institution | 43 CFR 3622.2 [3] |
| Explosives, tractors, power shovels or other heavy equipment | Banned, except for holders of a museum-piece permit | 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(2) [1] |
| Selling, trading or bartering the wood | Not allowed under the free-use rule | 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(3) [1]; BLM [4] |
A few practical points follow from that table.
Weigh as you go. A hand-held luggage scale in the vehicle settles arguments at the end of the day. The regulation does not give a weight for the "plus one piece," but the 250-pound yearly ceiling still covers everything you remove, and any single piece over 250 pounds is a permit matter [1][3].
Keep a running total. The yearly limit is per person per calendar year, across every trip and every free-use area [1]. If you collect petrified wood several times a year, write the date, place and weight of each day's take in your field notes. That record is also what shows later that a piece was collected lawfully.
Count each person, not each vehicle. Three adults can each take 25 pounds plus one piece in a day. They cannot add their allowances together to haul out one 75-pound log or a 600-pound stump [1].
Leave the ground as you found it. Paragraph (a)(4) requires collecting in a way that "minimizes and mitigates environmental damage" [1]. Fill the holes you dig.
No permit, and no sale
You need no application or permit for free use of petrified wood. The regulation is plain: "No application or permit for free use is required except for specimens over 250 pounds in weight" [3]. For those large pieces, "The authorized officer may issue permits, using the procedures of subpart 3604 of this chapter, for the removal of such specimens if the applicant certifies that they will be displayed to the public in a museum or similar institution" [3]. A large piece for your garden does not qualify.
On selling, the regulation says wood taken under the free-use rule "shall be for personal use and shall not be sold or bartered to commercial dealers" [1]. The BLM's public brochure Can I Keep This? states it more broadly: "You may not trade, barter or sell the petrified wood you collect without a contract from the BLM" [4]. The two read slightly differently. This page follows the BLM's wording, because it is the agency that enforces the rule and because selling to anyone is the safer reading. Collecting for sale is a separate, commercial activity that needs a contract or permit under 43 CFR 8365.1-5(c) [2]. If you plan to sell petrified wood, start with what you may sell from public land and permits to collect for sale.
Where the free-use rule applies, and where it does not
The free-use rule is a Department of the Interior regulation, and its reach is set by 43 CFR 3622.3. Paragraph (a) reads: "All public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation are open to or available for free use removal of petrified wood unless otherwise provided for by notice in the Federal Register" [5]. Other Interior bureaus may designate free-use areas only by publishing them in the Federal Register, and the Secretary may designate areas on other federal land only with that agency's consent, excluding the Department of Agriculture [5].
| Land manager | Petrified wood | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BLM | Open to free use at 25 pounds plus one piece a day and 250 pounds a year, unless closed by Federal Register notice or posted local rules | 43 CFR 3622.3(a), 3622.4 [5][1] |
| Bureau of Reclamation | Open to free use under 3622.3(a); Reclamation's own conduct rule bars removing natural resources except as "other applicable Federal, State, and local laws" allow, so confirm with the area office | 43 CFR 3622.3(a) [5]; 43 CFR 423.29(a) [9] |
| National Park Service, including Petrified Forest National Park | Prohibited. Park rules bar removing "Nonfossilized and fossilized paleontological specimens" and "A mineral resource or cave formation or the parts thereof" | 36 CFR 2.1(a)(1)(iii) and (iv) [6] |
| Forest Service (Department of Agriculture) | Not covered by the Interior rule. Its own regulation allows a free-use permit for "limited quantities of petrified wood for personal use," and "The material taken may not be bartered or sold" | 36 CFR 228.62(e) [10]; FS-1091, June 2017 [7] |
| BLM national monuments, wilderness and other special areas | Depends on the area's proclamation, plan or closure order; ask the field office | BLM FAQ [8] |
| State, tribal and private land | The federal rule does not apply; the owner or state agency sets the terms | 43 CFR 3622.3 [5] |
National parks
Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is the place most people picture, and it is the place you may not take any. The park is run by the National Park Service, and 36 CFR 2.1 prohibits "Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or disturbing from its natural state" fossils and mineral resources in park units [6]. The BLM land outside the park boundary is a different matter: there the free-use rule above applies unless a local closure says otherwise. Know which side of the line you are on before you pick anything up. The steps for checking are on finding out who manages a parcel, and the park rules and their few exceptions are on national parks and national monuments.
National forests
The Forest Service rule is 36 CFR 228.62(e). It lets the agency issue a free-use permit to "amateur collectors and scientists" to take "limited quantities of petrified wood for personal use," says "The material taken may not be bartered or sold," and allows free-use areas where no permit is needed and posted rules govern removal [10]. It sets no pound figure. The Rockhounding Guide (FS-1091, June 2017) adds: "Specific rules may be in effect for designated collection areas, check with local ranger district office for information" [7]. The Interior figures in 43 CFR 3622.4 do not carry over to a national forest, so call the ranger district and ask what quantity its permit or posted rules allow. The rest of the Forest Service rules are on collecting in national forests.
Monuments and wilderness
A national monument run by the BLM is not a national park. The BLM says collecting in its monuments is generally allowed in reasonable amounts, but "may be prohibited" for items identified as "monument objects" in the proclamation, the land use plan or a temporary closure [8]. If petrified wood is one of the objects a monument was created to protect, the free-use allowance does not help you there. In BLM wilderness, collection is limited to "non-motorized hand tools" with "minimal surface disturbance" [8].
Petrified wood is a fossil, and why that matters
Petrified wood is fossilized plant material, but on BLM and Reclamation land it has its own subpart, so the free-use limit governs rather than the general fossil rules [2]. That does not make every fossil plant in the same rock free to take. Common invertebrate and plant fossils are listed separately in the BLM rule and governed by 43 CFR Part 49 [2], and the BLM says fossils collected that way "may not be bartered or sold" [4]. Those rules have their own home on collecting fossils on public land.
Before you go out for wood
- Confirm the land manager for the exact spot, using the BLM surface management map or the field office.
- Call the BLM field office (or Reclamation area office) and ask whether the area is a designated free-use area, whether it is closed, and whether any posted rules add to the national limit [1][5].
- If the area is in or next to a national monument or wilderness, ask whether petrified wood is a protected monument object there [8].
- Pack hand tools only, and a scale.
- Record each day's weight and place, and keep that log with the specimens.
Selling the wood you collected
Wood taken under the free-use rule stays in your collection. If you are thinking about selling petrified wood, the question becomes where lawful stock comes from (private land with written sale permission, a commercial contract, or a documented purchase), and that is set out on selling material collected on public land.
References
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 3622.4 Collection rules (48 FR 27015, June 10, 1983, as amended at 66 FR 58909, Nov. 23, 2001), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/3622.4
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 8365.1-5 Property and resources (as amended through 87 FR 47329, Aug. 2, 2022), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/8365.1-5
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 3622.2 Procedures; permits, read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/3622.2
- Bureau of Land Management, *Can I Keep This? A Guide to Collecting on Public Lands*, BLM/MT/GI-11/007, revised 2021. https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2021-10/Can%20I%20Keep%20This%202021%20-%20508%20Final%20Version.pdf
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 3622.3 Designation of areas, read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/3622.3
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 36 CFR 2.1 Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources (as amended through 87 FR 47319, Aug. 2, 2022), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/2.1
- USDA Forest Service, *Rockhounding Guide*, FS-1091, June 2017. https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/229394
- Bureau of Land Management, *Public Collection of Rocks, Mineral Specimens, and Semiprecious Gemstones on Public Lands for Noncommercial Purposes: FAQ*, file dated February 28, 2024. https://muleapi.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2024-02/BLM-Rock-Collection-FAQs_2-28-24.pdf
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 423.29 Natural and cultural resources, read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/423.29
- eCFR, 36 CFR 228.62 Free use (Part 228, Subpart C, Disposal of Mineral Materials), up to date as of August 24, 2026, read October 22, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/chapter-II/part-228
