The 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree...the rest of the story

Reporter's note: Since learning the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree would come from the Kootenai Forest in western Montana I've been following the story. When my wife and I lived in Libby I was a seasonal employee in the Kootenai Forest for several summers. I still have friends who work there and I was hoping I could get some nuggets of information about the national tree that might not otherwise be available. Turns out there was huge coverage by the media of the process of harvesting and shipping the tree to Washington for the lighting ceremony that happened early in December (December 6).

I contacted a former colleague who is now the Manager of Recreation in the Three Rivers District of the Kootenai Forest. That's the ranger district headquartered in Troy and from which this year's Capitol tree was selected. My friend, David Thorstenson, shared some information about the process and directed me to Sandi Mason who is a Forest Service employee based at the Forest Supervisor's Office in Libby. She was the 'go to' person for the tree project in Montana. She wrote, "...my Christmas tree title is "Project Leader" for the Capitol Christmas Tree." She kindly shared information for this story.

Here is some of what I learned about the 'rest of the story' regarding the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

The third Christmas tree to come

from the Kootenai Forest

First, there is some confusion about how many Christmas trees have come from the Kootenai to be used in Washington, DC. In 1958 the Kootenai Forest provided a 'live' Christmas tree that was planted at the White House (the tree referred to as the National Christmas Tree and is lighted by the President and guests). In 1964 then House Speaker John McCormack had a live Christmas tree planted at the Capitol, which died after about three years. That was the beginning of the annual U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

In 1970 the Capitol Architect asked the Forest Service to provide a Christmas tree for the Capitol lawn and the tradition continues. The first U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from the Kootenai National Forest was cut in 1989 on Pipe Creek. So, just to keep things straight, the 2017 tree is the second going to the Capitol lawn from the Kootenai but one other live tree went to the White House when Dwight Eisenhower was President. There are still two separate 'national' Christmas trees-one for the White House and the other at the Capitol.

The selection process for the 2017 Capitol Tree

My friend Dave Thorstenson, at the Three Rivers Ranger District in Troy, said, "In May of this year the local people in charge of finding a suitable Capitol Tree put out the word to forests employees begin looking for 'candidates.'" Sandi Mason, who was managing the project for the entire Kootenai added, "We needed to find 6-8 trees that the Capitol Architect could choose from when he would visit the forest and make a final selection among the candidates we selected."

A spokesperson for the Architect's Office had said earlier, "the winning conifer will be chosen based on the uniformity of its shape, its clean bill of health, its height (typically between 60 and 80 feet) and the uniformity of its foliage. A truly upstanding Christmas tree must also possess a trunk that's straight as an arrow."

This year's tree came from the Upper Ford administrative site where an existing office/warehouse was built in 1933 by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The edge of the old building, not currently in use, is seen in many of the first photos of the 2017 tree. The tree is a 79 foot- tall Engelmann Spruce. Sandi Mason said, "The tree is 76 years old and weighed in at about 15,000 pounds. It's an absolutely beautiful tree." The tree was selected by the Capitol Architect in July, 2017. After it was chosen Forest Service Law Enforcement was responsible to secure the tree until it was harvested. The location of the tree was not disclosed at the time it was first selected.

Harvesting, packing and delivering the Capitol Tree

There's a lot of 'behind the scenes traditions' that are involved with the tree. For example, the sawyer this year (person who cut down the tree) is a fifth generation tree cutter and a life-long resident of northwest Montana. The company that transported the tree was selected by the Motor Carriers of Montana and the driver had driven 1.6 million accident-free miles.

After trimming the lower branches for access by the sawyer, the tree was cut (November 8) and lowered by two cranes onto a flatbed equipped with a special 'cradle' to hold the trunk of the tree. For the trip down from the harvest site, the limbs of the tree hung over the sides of the 100 foot trailer. The tree was hauled to an old mill site in Libby where it was prepared for travel in the custom eight by eight foot plexiglass container. That took about four days as the limbs had to be slowly 'squeezed' into the road-legal container.

On November 13 the tree began its trip to Washington, DC. As to the route chosen with the designated stops, Sandi Mason wrote, "Kootenai Forest officials made the decision to hit the Hi-Line because we looked at the various past routes and they had never stopped there, and we wanted to keep a rural based route." She added she received a lot of calls from schools asking for an unscheduled visit and, "we did stop if we had time available, the weather was cooperating and the stop wasn't out of our way too much." There was a scheduled stop at Fort Belknap on November 17 and an additional short stop was arranged, in Libby, by Meadowlark School principal Jon Martin.

A few other details of interest

Sandi Mason, at the Kootenai Supervisors Office, was also responsible for providing about 70 additional trees for government offices and other locations in Washington, foot tall or larger ornaments for the Capitol Tree and additional tree skirts and smaller ornaments. Those items were shipped earlier so they would be available when the trees arrived. The Capitol Tree arrived on November 27 to be prepared for the December 6 lighting ceremony.

Back in Libby, Sandi Mason also explained the process by which the forest is selected each year to provide the tree. That decision is made by the Forest Service. Each year's selection rotates among nine national forest regions. The decision has already been made about which forest the 2018 tree will come from. The 2018 site will be announced after the 2017 tree is lit.

A frequently asked question is, "What does it cost to provide this tree and who pays for it?"

he forest supervisor who provided last year's tree (from Idaho) estimated the cost at "around $600,000."

Some of that included the cost of the Forest Service employees who worked on the project, but most ($500,000) of the cost was provided by cash and in-kind services from private companies and individuals. For the last few years the Forest Service has partnered with Choose Outdoors (an advocacy group for public land use) to find private sponsors.

This year there were several 'levels' of sponsorship available. The "Grizzly" package, at the $100,000 level, placed the sponsor's logo on all promotional materials, afforded tickets to several Washington 'receptions' around the time of the lighting ceremony and special accommodations at the actual lighting. At least half the amount had to be in cash, the rest could be in-kind. For the more modest "Friends of the Tree" level, a $100-500 sponsorship got your company name on the tree banner and website.

So, somewhere soon a national forest has announced "the 2018 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will be coming from our forest!" Forest Service employees will begin scouting for trees that might be worthy of selection by the Capitol Architect, who will visit July, 2018. And somewhere next November, school children and folks along the tour route will be awed by the site of the tree on its way to the Capitol. You have to admit, it is a pretty cool tradition and folks along this section of the Hi-Line had our small role in it this year.