It’s that time of year again; Christmas music is playing in the stores, the lights are up around town, and with white stuff on the ground and with cold morning temps, it finally feels like winter. On December 4th, the Capitol Christmas tree was lit in Washington D.C., a tree that originated from Colorado. The small town of Meeker, CO had the honor this year of providing the tree for the Capitol.  The tree comes from the Blanco Ranger District of the White River National Forest on the Western Slope.

The tradition of providing a tree from one of the nation’s National Forests began in 1970, after the live Douglas-fir tree that was decorated annually was destroyed following a storm. The Forest Service selects 8-10 trees from within the Ranger District and the superintendent of the capitol grounds makes the final decision.

This year’s tree is a 74 year old, 73-foot Englemann Spruce (Picea engelmannii). The tree was cut November 2nd and made stops in 28 different communities in just over 3 weeks along its 5,300 mile journey to the US Capitol’s West Front Lawn. Security not only followed the tree along its route to the Capitol, but 24-hour guards were stationed around the tree from the time it was selected until its removal from the forest. The tree was transported by former CO US Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in a SmartWay-certified Mack PinnacleTM model.  The MP8 engine with MACK® ClearTech SCR technology found in this truck allowed for a nearly emission free journey across the nation.

Colorado Congressman Scott Tipton and Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet joined Speaker of the House, John Boehner during the lighting ceremony in DC this year.  The actual lighting of the tree was completed by a senior from Colorado Springs. In addition to 10,000 low-energy LED lights, nearly 5,000 Coloradan-made ornaments adorn the tree. Each ornament is a symbol of this year’s theme: “Celebrating Our Great Outdoors,” a fitting theme from Colorado!