Real Live Christmas Trees - Nature's Holiday Gift

There is nothing better than a fresh-cut Christmas tree for the holidays. Why? To start with, a fresh tree is alive—a living symbol of family, faith and tradition. Technology is wonderful, but no amount of aerosol spray, potpourri or synthesized air freshener can duplicate the unique aroma of a fresh balsam, pine or fir tree. At a time when so much around us is plastic, a real tree reminds us of real values, real friends and real joy.

Who hasn’t had the experience of opening the ornament box and finding a few needles left over from past Christmas trees? They retain their scent, and with it the memories of good times past.

Christmas tree plantations and farms are much-needed green oases, and protect against environmental degradation. Growing where rough terrain makes the production of other crops difficult or impossible, evergreens stabilize the soil and provide habitat for all kinds of animals, from the squirrels and chipmunks who feast on the trees’ cones to the thousands of birds who nest in sturdy evergreen branches all over the country. Whenever a tree is harvested for the Christmas market, up to three new seedlings are planted in its place.

After Christmas, discarded trees keep on giving. Across the country many are collected and turned into mulch or compost for public and private gardens. Officials at Dunbar Cave State Park in Clarksville, Tennessee use mulch from over a thousand Christmas trees to cover the park’s hiking trails every year. Some municipalities have found even more creative uses for the holiday icons. In Cook County, Illinois, for example, the recycled trees are used to create nesting structures for herons and egrets, whose existing nesting area is threatened by overuse. Sand fencing, anchored by discarded Christmas trees, helped to restore the fragile sand dunes in Alabama’s Shores State Park. Fish in lakes around Keene, New Hampshire, find food and hiding places in the discarded trees that the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department drop into the lakes. The presence of these “habitat improvement structures” has contributed to an increase in the overall number of fish, making fisherman and ecologists equally happy.

Raised conscientiously, handled with care and recycled with ingenuity, fresh cut trees are the best choice for the family and the environment.