Governor downs Capitol Christmas Tree in Greenough

Gov. Greg Gianforte joked he would cut down the Capitol Christmas Tree himself with a chainsaw, but a feller buncher beat him to the punch and slashed a massive Douglas fir on Lubrecht Experimental Forest last Monday, Nov. 27.

Gianforte and his wife Susan met with state conservation officials and local loggers to cut down the tree on state trust lands within Lubrecht. Gianforte said active forest management seen in Greenough will better the state's forests while keeping the timber economy alive.

"It's starting to feel like Christmas, and we love having a Montana tree in the Capitol. I think these guys did a great job picking it out," Gianforte told the Pathfinder. "It's also a way to celebrate the Montana timber industry as well. It's always been a big part of our economy and it's also part of our stewardship of our public lands. It was particularly sweet to be able to select this tree off of state land this year, so we will be celebrating that in the Capitol."

The group of state officials drove up a U.S. Forest Service Road littered with timber piles waiting for extraction. The tree sat in a Department of Natural Resources and Conservation project area, which Clearwater Unit Forester Craig Nelson told the governor was to create better habitat and limit the potential of wildfire.

The project area spans 1,400 acres, of which about 600 acres are in the process of being logging. Bare sections of dirt from previously thick stands stood out with the sun overhead. Loose pine needles from sliced branches covered other parts of the ground .

"This particular harvest itself is designed, oddly enough with all these small trees, to make a change to the stand type to get more ponderosa pine and western larch and Douglas fir," Nelson said to the group circled up around a small fire. "The stand before was very thick."

The mission that day was not to harvest a small tree, however, as the Capitol Christmas tree stood at 49-feet-tall and flaunted a perfect conical shape. State officials handed Gianforte a giant, oversized Christmas Tree permit to sign.

The DNRC, Montana Logging Association, Sun Mountain Lumber, and Parke Logging all contributed to cutting the tree down, according to a release from the Governor's office. Jon Knight, a subcontractor with Parke Logging, recommended the tree to the governor for harvest.

"I was looking for a uniform, full pick, the epitome of a Christmas tree, and I found it," Knight said. "It means a lot to me to have everyone up here. It's the feeling of the Christmas spirit."

The whole crowd walked a safe distance away while Knight made the clean cut on the tree. The Douglas fir was then loaded onto a trailer and shipped to Helena, where it was lit on Dec. 4.

While watching a crew of young men carefully lower the tree, Gianforte emphasized the importance of doing active forest management on state and federal lands.

"If we lose our mills, we lose our ability to manage our lands," Gianforte said, pointing out over the ridgeline where logging has been completed. "You can just see here where they open up the hillside that there's better habitat, there's less fire risk, it creates jobs in the community, there's more wildlife. Everyone wins when we manage our forests well."

Gianforte added that both state and federal agencies need to work similarly to log lands around Montana. He said the state has been working with the U.S. Forest Service to address more parcels of land that could benefit from logging.

There's more the state can do, and the Good Neighborhood Authority is a good collaboration vehicle, he said. Gianforte hopes to do larger scale projects, some spreading out over 20 years and covering entire watersheds.

He said he has discussed those larger projects with U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. Gianforte said he also passed an expanded Good Neighbor Authority act as part of the Farm Bill when he was in Congress.

"It is important that we keep vibrancy in our timber industry," Gianforte said.

Christmas tree permits for national forest land are available at local ranger districts or online at Recreation.gov. Permits for the 2023 holiday season are $5.00 a tree, with a limit of three trees.