Christmas at the Capitol

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 22nd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: The Capitol Christmas Tree.

Every year since 1970, the U.S. Department of Agriculture chooses a different national forest to provide the Christmas tree for the Capitol lawn. This year the tree is affectionately known as “Ruby,” a nickname based on the red spruce’s scientific designation.

BROWN: Ruby’s roots are from the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina’s Pisgah Forest. WORLD’s Lillian Hamman is here to tell us about the tree’s long journey to get from there to the Capitol.

AUDIO: [FIRE CRACKLING, PEOPLE TALKING, SAW]

LILLIAN HAMMAN, REPORTER: It’s a cold November morning up in the mountain evergreens of Pisgah Forest. It’s called America’s Cradle of Forestry, because this is where Biltmore Forest School, the first forestry school in America, was established. Rangers in green felt uniforms, government representatives with polished shoes, journalists angling cameras, and members of the eastern band of Cherokee Indians all keep warm with fresh coffee and donuts around a crackling fire.

RODNEY SMITH: I'm just excited because this is the date we've been talking about the whole time. We've been watching the weather since last Wednesday. They did make the decision to go and so yeah

For most of us, getting a Christmas tree only takes a few hours at most. We dig it out of storage in the attic. Buy it from Home Depot or the Boy Scout lot around the corner.

Ruby played a little harder to get.

A team of workers from across the Pisgah and Nantahala Forests started hunting last December. There are many possible trees to choose from in the one-million acre forest, but after a thorough search, they found the perfect one.

RACHAEL DICKSON: We went out in teams looking for trees that met the criteria that the architect of the Capitol laid out for us—65 to 80 feet tall, beautiful conical shape, no bald spots, really full crown, that sort of thing.

Rachael Dickson is the Pisgah zone silviculturist. That’s a special type of forester who prescribes treatments for improving the health and resiliency of a forest. Dickson didn’t look for trees from a distance. She got up close and personal.

RACHAEL DICKSON: We climbed each individual tree to ensure that the Carolina and Oregon flying squirrel didn't have any Dreyse or cavity nests in the trees before we were able to make that selection.

Where the tree is located is an important factor in the search. The higher the elevation, the more piney and “Christmas looking” the needles on the tree. Roots next to a stream bank ensure good hydration and the least amount of ecological disruption when removed. Easy access to a road means a helicopter won’t have to pull the tree out.

Finally, by July, the crews had selected eight to ten trees as finalists. And Ruby beat ‘em all.

AUDIO: [TRUCK/CRANE]

Now on harvest day, a crane lifts Rachael Dickson to the top of Ruby for one last climb. She dangles from a metal cable, slowly rising 78 feet in the air.

LILLIAN: Oh my goodness

TK: Look at the little ears on the helmet

LILLIAN HAMMAN: oh my gosh

JUDY DINELLE: Now there's women in construction right there.

Dickson secures the crane cables to Ruby’s trunk. They’ll support it once it’s cut all the way through. Then Dickson slowly rappells back down to the ground. As she goes, she collects a few more cones for seeds and looks for any new critters who might have moved in.

AUDIO: [SAWS RUMBLING]

When her feet touch the ground again, two sawyers stand ready to cut.

Rodney Smith and Matt Eldridge don neon orange chainsaw chaps, cut resistant shirts, and head gear for protection. They’ve cut trees Ruby’s size before. But Smith says never this style of cut.

AUDIO: [SAWS]

RODNEY SMITH: It'll be about a 45 degree angle V that I'll go in and harvest down about a little over halfway through the tree.

AUDIO: [HAMMERING]

SMITH: And then…Matt Eldridge…he'll set some wedges for me. And then I'll come to the other side of the tree and cut in about half of that distance remaining. We'll set one more wedge just to keep the tree from moving. And that's when I'll make sure Matt's ready. They'll make sure the crane’s ready, and then I'll make the final cut. And I'll let them know that I'm releasing the tree.

AUDIO: [SAWS, CHEERING]

In less than ten minutes, Ruby’s floating in the air through flakes of sawdust and the smell of pine. The crane lowers her onto an eighty foot long semi-truck bed where she’s fastened in for a fourteen day tour across North Carolina—from the mountains to the sea.

RACHAEL DICKSON: Seeing her get harvested was a pretty big impact it's kind of an emotional day, because I've spent more time with Ruby than I probably have any other tree… it's definitely a once in a career opportunity…

Following Ruby on tour are 84 companion trees donated by North Carolina farms. They’re for military families and veterans at Joint Base Andrews.

After the Christmas season, Ruby’s wood will be turned into banjos and guitars, and her branches will dress the Capitol lawn as mulch. Ruby also raises awareness for restoration of the red spruce ecosystem. Decades of unsustainable logging and wildfires have left the species endangered.

RACHAEL DICKSON: We're harvesting one tree, but this one tree represents, like, thousands of trees that we'll be able to plant back into the forest.

For now, Ruby stands proudly decorated on Capitol Hill with thousands of ornaments hand-made by North Carolinians. A lighting ceremony at the end of November kicked off the nation’s Christmas season.

CAPITOL LIGHTING: And now we’re going to do the countdown for the lighting of this marvelous tree. You ready? Let's start with 5…

With the flip of a switch, Ruby’s journey came to an end.

CAPITOL LIGHTING: [5, 4, 3, 2, 1…cheering] [“Oh Christmas Tree”]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lillian Hamman in Asheville, North Carolina.

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