Are the applications prioritized in order of postmark? Or does the USDA Forest Service collect all applications that have arrived by 2/16 and treat them equally (in random order, whatever they open first from the stack gets priority)?
All apps are NOT prioritized in order of postmark.
I have in the past submitted 4 pages of dates on my application. I think there were 12 dates of preference per page on previous apps, but now there are 10 per page. Still, 40 is a lot of dates.
Here is what I did:
Kept group size small. 4 have a better chance than 8 or 15. So choose your friends WISELY!
I chose dates in August and September. My first preferences were dates with a FULL MOON or WANING GIBBOUS. I chose dates that fell on a Tues, Wed or Thurs, then listed Mon and Fri.
I listed weekends LAST since many choose those dates first.
I did not list the Labor Day weekend.
Made sure I double-checked everything. DON'T FORGET TO SIGN if paying with a credit/debit card!
Good luck everyone!
Have fun.
