Christmas tree options abound
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The turkey and pumpkin pie had not been gobbled away for long before local vendors prepared for a second feeding frenzy, this time with something less palatable on the menu. Christmas tree dealers say the post-Thanksgiving rush is usually their busiest time of year, and in Lake County there are plenty of options for picking out greenery to deck the halls.
“The trees sell best in the first couple weeks of December, anywhere from the 5th to the 15th,” Montana Ace Ronan Supervisor Kirsten Cordier said.
The store stocked its Christmas tree lot the week before Thanksgiving and a few people had purchased a couple, but the real rush was expected this week. Cordier said the store offers trees cut from Montana forests and delivered from Dutchman Tree Farms in Michigan.
“People seem to like the blue spruce or concolor fir,” Cordier said. “We also carry the Frazier fir that people buy, but the two other ones are more popular. We sell them like crazy.”
Last year more than half of the 90 trees the store sold were blue spruce.
Cordier said she reminds people to keep the trees watered so they don’t dry out prematurely.
People can also purchase their trees from the Mission Valley FFA, which uses the proceeds to help fund travel to agriculture education events throughout the year. The students man a tree lot at Mountain West Co-op on Highway 93 in Ronan.
Rain, snow, or shine the students are ready to load the evergreens and homemade wreaths up for customers. Last year the group clung to hot chocolate as people showed up in sub-freezing temperatures to buy trees. The sale will take place the weekends of Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. The lot will be open Fridays from 3:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays the lots will be manned from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
“Last year we had some complaints about our trees losing too many needles,” Mission Valley FFA Adviser Reese McAlpin said. “This year we have switched tree farms to provide higher quality trees for our customers.”
Christmas tree shopping is markedly less adventurous than Christmas tree hunting, which people can do on the nearby Flathead National Forest. Ronan Power Products and Ronan Sports and Western sell $5 Christmas tree permits that allow the purchaser to cut a tree from national forestland. Households can purchase up to two of the permits each year.
Polson resident Verna Ivory and her husband Gary have established a tradition of sorts with a Ronan couple to go Christmas tree hunting each year.
“It’s so fun,” Verna said. “We start out the day by stopping at Echo Lake Cafe and have a wonderful breakfast. We spend hours tramping around trying to find the right tree. Every year we’ve gone I can remember snow. It’s just lots of snow and beautiful.”
Ivory said she wants to get a large tree each year, but her husband talks her into a smaller one that works better for the limited space she has in her home. The U.S. Forest Service asks that all trees cut be less than 4 inches in diameter at the stump. Harvesting guidelines also say people should cut the trees as close to the ground as possible. People should not cut off treetops or leave limbs attached to the stump.
Ivory said the experience is much more pleasing than going to a lot to buy a tree.
“This is way more fun,” Ivory said. “Every year we look forward to it. I think for a family with younger kids it is so fun because everybody gets to put in their two cents worth about what they like. It makes it more theirs.”
Ivory suggested that people take a 4-wheel drive vehicle if possible.
“The snow can get pretty deep and some of the roads aren’t maintained,” Ivory said.
Ivory said she has also encountered hunters while searching for a Christmas tree, so people might be mindful of other woodsmen if heading out.
And, she said, don’t forget that trees look much smaller in the forest than they do in the home.
For a permit or more information about vendors and cutting Christmas trees on the Flathead National Forest, please contact a local Forest Service office: Tally Lake Ranger District/Supervisor’s Office, (406) 758-5204; Hungry Horse-Glacier View and Spotted Bear Ranger Districts, (406) 387-3800; Swan Lake Ranger District, (406) 837-7500.
