Permits & rules
Utah BLM petrified wood rules
Petrified wood is the piece that gets people in trouble. It looks like a rock. The law often treats it like a limited resource.
On many BLM tracts (casual use)
Federal casual-use collecting can allow a small amount of petrified wood for personal use — commonly described as 25 pounds per day plus one piece, and 250 pounds per year, no permit, no sale, hand tools only.
That is the same cap people quote for common rocks. It is a ceiling, not a target. If a local field office or recreation site posts a tighter rule, the sign wins.
Where that cap does not apply
- National parks — zero. Including chips in the parking lot.
- Utah State Parks — generally no removal without written authorization. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a look-don’t-take site.
- SITLA — trust land. Do not use the BLM wood cap.
- Some monuments, ACECs, and closed washes — collecting can be banned even on federal land.
Gem-grade and “I could sell this”
Casual use is personal and non-commercial. If the plan is to sell slabs, fill a rock-shop inventory, or take material that is being managed as a special deposit, you are outside hobby collecting. That is a permit question, not a bucket question.
Field test
- Confirm the parcel is BLM on the ownership layer.
- Confirm you are not in a park, monument, or posted closure.
- Stay under the daily cap. One log can blow the limit by itself.
- Leave vertebrate bone, artifacts, and anything you cannot identify as common petrified wood.
Informational only — not legal advice. Petrified-wood rules are easy to get wrong by unit. Check the local BLM field office before you load a log.