Don't Go to LA's National Forest to Find Christmas Trees

Though other national parks allow it, trees planted in LA area are there to prevent erosion

Although the U.S. Forest Service has issued suggestions for "safe holiday tree-cutting" on federal land in other parts of the country, Christmas tree chopping is prohibited in the Angeles National Forest, officials said Thursday.

"Trees from your national forest brighten homes across the country every year," said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell in a statement released this week in Washington, urging people to "follow safe cutting practices" when they take out their axes in federal forests.

But that advice is not applicable for the mountains above Los Angeles.