The Capitol Christmas Tree has been a institution ever since 1964 when the first of its kind, a 24-foot Douglas fir from Pennsylvania, was planted on the west front lawn of the White House for only $ 700 As with many good intentions seeded in DC C. She died instantly. White pines from Maryland was used for some years until 1970, when the U.S. Forest Service assumed the responsibility to select a State forest each year to give the tree.
Different species were used over the years including white spruce, blue, red, black, and Engelmann spruce and Norway and balsam, Fraser, Douglas, sub-alpine and silver. All through the 1970s and 80s, were trees between 40 feet and 60 feet tall, until Montana ruined the die in 1989 with a 89-foot Engelmann spruce from the Kootenai National Forest. Never again, “said White House lawn maintenance specialists. It nearly toppled crane lifting the tree.
Now the requirement for the tree is to keep the size below 70 feet. The administrator of the U.S. Capitol grounds, Ted Bechtol, look for a tree that is perfect from every angle, because it will screen all sides by December and it is taken down and mulch .
During his first year as Senator Wyoming, so John Barrasso witnessed the excitement around the 2007 Capitol Christmas Tree, and when he discovered that Wyoming had never provided a tree, he placed a phone call to the USFS and that is all she wrote.
A week later, Barrasso learned that Wyoming was approved for 2010. USFS spokesman Jim Payne said requests mean a lot of politicians in the decision, and Barrasso’s call was the first time a member of Congress had expressed an interest.
The 2010 tree is a 67-foot Engelmann spruce from the Black Rock District Bridger-Teton National Forest, Bechtol a “10″ rating. He stated that it looked like it belonged on an estate in New Hampshire. The tree was first identified by Forest Service budget analyst Sandra Seaton, who is posthumously honored at the December 7 lighting ceremony in Washington, DC C. Seaton passed away of heart attack shortly after she the tree.
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