[pct-l] Permits for thru-hiking for less than 500 miles

[inaki.diazdeetura at madrid.sema.slb.com (Inaki D. Etura)]

Since I'll be thru-hiking a PCT section of less than 500 miles,
according to the info on pcta.org I'll need to apply for a permit from
the entity (NF or whatever) where my trip begins. Considering I'd most
probably be starting either at Manning (south bound), Harts pass (south
bound) or Snoqualmie pass (north bound), I'd like to know the following:

- which NF should I address in each case to apply for the permit? It may
seem trivial but for those not familiar with the different protection
figures in the US backcountry it's a bit tricky... are Wilderness areas
within National Forests or the other way round, or do they have nothing
to do with each other? can a Wilderness area issue permits or is it just
NFs or NPs?

- for the PCT stretch along the Northern Cascades, which is what I'm
hiking anyway, is there any restrictions for issuing permits such as
quotas or anything?

Those are the most important things but once I'm at it I'll ask away a
couple more:

- what should I do to actually apply for the permit? should I phone,
write, e-mail?

- do permits have a cost?

Thanks in advance for the help
Inaki
------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail and the documents attached are confidential and intended solely
for the addressee; it may also be privileged. If you receive this e-mail
in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy it.
As its integrity cannot be secured on the Internet, the Atos Origin group
liability cannot be triggered for the message content. Although the
sender endeavours to maintain a computer virus-free network, the sender does
not warrant that this transmission is virus-free and will not be liable for
any damages resulting from any virus transmitted.

"Este mensaje y los ficheros adjusntos puede contener información
confidencial destinada solamente a la(s) persona(s) mencionadas
anteriormente. Pueden estar protegidos por secreto profesional Si usted
recibe este correo electrónico por error, gracias de informar immediatamente
al remitente y destruir el mensaje.
Al no estar asegurada la integridad de este mensaje sobre la red, Atos
Origin no se hace responsable por su contenido. Su contenido no constituye
ningún compromiso para el grupo Atos Origin, salvo ratificación escrita por
ambas partes.
"Aunque se esfuerza al máximo por mantener su red libre de virus, el emisor
no puede garantizar nada al respecto y no será responsable de cualesquiera
daños que puedan resultar de una transmisión de virus"
------------------------------------------------------------------