Sweet Home Ranger Station to Provide Capitol Christmas Tree

Sweet Home Ranger Station to Provide Capitol Christmas Tree
Seventy Trees to Travel from Sweet Home to Washington DC

SWEET HOME, OR – JAN 19, 2018 – Today, US Forest Service Representatives announced that the 2018 Capitol Christmas Tree will be selected from the Willamette National Forest within the Sweet Home Ranger District during a Press Conference in Sweet Home held on historic Weddle Bridge.

The tree will be selected by the White House sometime in late July or early August. Its location will remain confidential until it is harvested in November.  It will have around the clock security from the time it is cut down, during the cross-country trek by truck, until it arrives to be displayed on the West Lawn in Washington DC. The tree will need to be between 65 and 85 feet tall and conical in shape.

Every congressional office will be decorated with a tree from the Sweet Home Ranger District.  A total of 70 additional, albeit much smaller, trees will also make the cross-county journey from Oregon to the nation’s capital.

The theme for this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree is, “Find Your Trail!” as a reference to 2018 being the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act and the 175th commemoration of the Oregon Trail.  Likewise, 2018 is the City of Sweet Home’s 125th Anniversary.

Residents will be able to take part in the honor in several ways. People can actually look for a tree they think would fit the criteria and submit them for consideration to the Forest Service, they can also help make ornaments. Potential trees can be submitted with a picture and GPS coordinates at capitolchristmastree2018@gmail.com or delivered directly to the Sweet Home Ranger Station by May of 2018. Oregon will also supply 10,000 ornaments for the tree. There is expected to be several opportunities to make ornaments, the first being Saturday, January 20, at the Boys and Girls Club from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. The Boys and Girls Club is located at 890 18th Avenue, Sweet Home.

Other events are being discussed to take place around the Capitol Christmas Tree, including a parade and “Trifecta Tree Lighting” event in which the National Capitol Tree, State Capitol Tree and Sweet Home Tree could be simultaneously lit.

The US Forest Service is teaming up with the City of Sweet Home, Travel Oregon and Choose Outdoors, a non profit organization, to help with promoting the event throughout the year.

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Sweet Home, Oregon, is nestled at the base of the Cascade Mountains right along Foster Lake. The community has nearly 10,000 people within its incorporated area, and embraces an additional 6,000 or so people as “community members,” who reside just outside our city limits. With scenic vistas and an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities at our doorstep, Sweet Home is Oregon...at its best!

Visit us at: www.sweethomeor.gov!!

For more information: Capitol Christmas Tree website, www.uscapitolchristmastree.com
To get involved: Capitol Christmas Tree email, capitolchristmastree2018@gmail.com

About the Willamette National Forest, Oregon With more than 1.5 million acres, the beautiful Willamette National Forest is home to eight wilderness areas—including the popular Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson Wildernesses—and has over 1,700 miles of trails for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking and horseback riding. The varied landscapes of the high mountains, coastal rainforests, narrow canyons, and cascading streams offer visitors excellent opportunities to play and explore. We encourage people to use the #FindYourTrail hashtag as they explore trails and other areas of their local National Forest. Sweet Home, Ore., is often referred to as the “Gateway to the Santiam Playground” due to its proximity to the Sweet Home Ranger District on the Willamette National Forest and its trails, lakes, rivers and mountains.

About the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree For more than 50 years, the US Forest Service has provided the Capitol Christmas Tree, which symbolizes hope and the holiday spirit. It is an annual reminder of the beauty found in our National Forests. www.uscapitolchristmastree.com

For Information Contact:
Ray Towry, City Manager
City of Sweet Home
541-367-8969
rtowry@ci.sweet-home.or.us

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Nicola Swanson, Sweet Home District Ranger

Willamette National Forest

541.228.5610 (cell), nswanson@fs.fed.us

Linea Gagliano, Director, Global Communications
Travel Oregon

503.729.6021(cell), linea@traveloregon.com