Choice of Christmas tree is the 1st holiday decision

Nancy Hobbs
Tribune Lifestyle Writer

Date: 11/29/1990

In the next weeks, Americans will buy an estimated 36 million real Christmas trees, cut or living, to decorate homes and offices.

Newly purchased and previously owned artificial trees will be set up in almost equal numbers.

To those millions, add the small percentage who will hike into the forest - permit in hand - to chop down their own perfectly shaped tree.

With the next weekends bringing peak sales in all types of trees, many will soon make the tree decision.

Real trees, bought at corner lots and garden shops, are the choice of an estimated 37 to 38 percent of Americans celebrating Christmas, according to Cate Miller, assistant executive director of public relations, National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), Inc., Milwaukee, Wis. Of that number, an estimated 1 percent are living trees, with balled roots for planting after Christmas.

The NCTA is optimistic about this year's real-tree sales, figuring numbers will top records set in 1988. (Lower sales in 1989 were blamed on extremely cold weather in the North and unseasonably warm weather in the South during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ms. Miller said.) Tree farmers around the country, growing pines, firs and spruces on 1 million acres of land, supply 90 percent of the real trees annually, unlike years prior to the 1950s when most real trees were cut from the forest.

The industry now touts the environmental benefits of Christmas-tree farming. It takes an average seven years to grow a 6- to 8-foot tree, during which the plant acts as an erosion barrier in ground not suitable for most other crops, serves as home for birds and small animals, and absorbs carbon dioxide and replenishes oxygen. One acre of trees provides the daily oxygen needs of 18 people, according to the NCTA.

After enjoying real, cut trees in the home, the farmers' association also stresses that they are recyclable, reusable as a feeder for birds or as mulch in the garden, and are a renewable resource.

"Christmas trees are a cultivated crop, much like any other.

Farmers replant at a minimum rate of two seedlings, more often three, for every cut tree, so there is a constant rejuvenation."
Over the time it takes to reach the preferred height for harvest, farmers generally figure they will lose one-third of the seedlings for any of several reasons.

Salt Lake City's urban forestry division has come up with a strong argument in favor of living trees: reforesting the Salt Lake City Cemetary.

By buying a living tree for Christmas and donating it to the city afterward, said Ernie Dixon, board member, Greater Avenues Community Council, citizens can make a tax-deductible gift that will last seven to 10 decades.

"We're trying to repopulate the forest of the cemetary where many of the trees are about 70 years old, have reached maturity, and are coming down. This is a way the general population can participate, and everybody benefits."
Nurseries along the Wasatch Front have been supplied with fliers about the Living Christmas Trees project, giving specifications and care instructions until the tree is picked up after Christmas.

The city is asking for trees that stand 5 feet above the roots, making it less susceptible to vandalism and maintenance damage than smaller trees. Living trees that size cost $80 to $100. Mr. Dixon has a pragmatic view about the expense.

"You're going to spend $40 for a decent cut tree, and that's a throw-away."
The project is sponsored by a triumvirate of citizens' groups, including TreeUtah, the Greater Avenues Community Council and the Salt Lake City Urban Forestry Board. Their immediate goal is to replace 300 trees removed from the cemetary in the past three years.

For some 8,000 Utahns, the romance of cutting trees from national forests within the state can be realized.

Permits can be purchased from any national forest district office within the state for $5, which entitles the bearer to cut one tree from specified areas within that forest district. Depending on the forest, there are also restrictions on tree types.

Fishlake National Forest has almost three-quarters of the state's tree-cutting permits, with more than 6,000 available this year. Gary Laing, district ranger for the forest's Loa District, said most of that forest, with the exception of Fishlake Basin, is open for cutting.

"We try to encourage people to go off the road 100 yards and to cut the tree off at ground level, rather than top it off to get the height they want. We also try to encourage them to cut the subalpine fir, which is a nice Christmas tree but doesn't have much value in the timber industry."
Subalpine firs also invade aspen areas and, in times of fire, flare up and throw sparks more than other species - other reasons to encourage their harvest, Mr. Laing said.

Blue spruce and white fir can also be cut in the Loa District, but ponderosa pines are prohibited.

Other state districts will allow permit holders to take ponderosas and/or pinion pine, Engelmann spruce and lodgepole pine.

District offices handle permit sales individually and may be contacted for permit availability and specific cutting regulations for that area.