This Englemann spruce from Colorado was selected to be the 2012 Washington, D.C., Capitol Christmas tree. This year, an 88-foot white spruce from the Chippewa National Forest in Northern Minnesota will hold that honor. (PHOTO: US Forest Service/Keith Riggs, Creative Commons license)
Today, somewhere near Walker, Minnesota, in the Chippewa National Forest, a mature 88-foot white spruce enjoys its last meal of sunlight and carbon dioxide before being cut tomorrow to live forever in the hearts of America as the nation’s 2014 Christmas tree.
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Minnesota’s Logger of the Year Jim Scheff of Marcell will fire up his Husqvarna chainsaw to slice down the tree while cranes hold it upright to keep the spruce off the ground. From there, the tree will be hauled by Willie Transport of Cohasset, Minnesota, to Bemidji State University where it will be prepared for a whirlwind tour through Minnesota on its way to Washington, D.C.
The Minnesota leg of the national tour will be as follows (from the Capitol Christmas Tree tour website).
Sunday, November 2
11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Itasca State Park (36750 Main Park Drive, Park Rapids, MN 56601)
2 p.m.- 5 p.m. Bemidj (300 Bemidji Avenue, Bemidji MN,56470)Monday, November 3
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. City Park (MN HWY 371, Walker, MN 56484)
1-3 p.m. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Office (190 Sailstar Drive Northwest, Cass Lake, MN 56633)Tuesday, November 4
8:30-10:00 a.m. Blackduck Public School (156 1st Street NE, Blackduck, MN 56630)
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Marcell Family Center (49554 State Hwy 38, Marcell, MN, 56657)
2:00-4:00 p.m. Deer River High School (101 1st Ave NE, Deer River, MN 56636)Wednesday, November 5
8:00-10:00 a.m. Wille Transport (520 West Hwy 2, Cohasset, MN 55721)
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Grand Rapids (Highway 2 and NW First Avenue, Grand Rapids, MN 55744)
5:30-7:30 p.m. Bayfront Festival Park (350 Harbor Drive, Duluth, MN 55802)Thursday, November 6
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Garlough Elementary School (1740 Charlton St., West Saint Paul, MN 55118)
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Lifetouch Photography (11000 Viking Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344)Friday, November 7
Event from 11 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., with tree onsite from 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mayo Clinic (16 1st Street SW, Rochester MN 55902)
4:00-8:00 p.m., with tree arrival at 5:00 p.m. St. James Hotel (406 Main Street, Red Wing, MN 55066)Saturday, November 8
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Cabela’s (3900 Cabela Drive NW, Owatonna, MN 55060)
3:30-5:30 p.m. Northern Star Council Base Camp (201 Bloomington Road, Fort Snelling, MN 55111)
From Minnesota, it goes through Wisconsin, Illinois, even makes an appearance at a Cleveland Browns game before ending up on the lawn of the Capitol. Find out more at the website.
The Capitol Christmas tree always comes from a U.S. National Forest. This is the first time the tree has come from Minnesota since 1992, which was another white spruce from the Chippewa.
I wonder how old an 88 ft white spruce is? A group of guys I grew up with bought some land for hunting and hanging out. We brought in a DNR guy from Grand Rapids to help us manage our land for maximum deer, grouse populations. The first thing he recommended was logging the majority of our land. He said the trees were past maturity and needed to be harvested. I was surprised to learn most trees harvested were 60-90 yrs old. Don’t know why but I assumed the trees were much younger than that.
Seems this administration, for all its talk about being “green” isn’t or they’d have planted a permanent tree to re-use year after year. How much do we pay for transportation and setting up a fresh tree every year? And not just this one, but one for each state?