Tree Chosen for MN Governor's Residence

ST. PAUL, Minn. - This year's Christmas tree for the governor's official residence in St. Paul is a 50-foot balsam fir from the Nemadji State Forest, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Friday, DNR staff and the Conservation Corps Minnesota cut down the tree –115 miles northeast of the Twin Cities; it will be erected at the governor's residence on Monday.

"Finding a perfect specimen growing in the wild is not an easy task," said Tim Brault, DNR forestry technician who helps locate the governor's Christmas tree. "A candidate tree should have symmetrical branches, no noticeable gaps in the branches and a gradual taper."

Extreme care must be taken as the tree is loaded onto a trailer, bound in rope and covered with a tarp for its trip to St. Paul.

The tree will be removed from the front lawn of the governor's residence when the holiday season ends.

It will then be chipped and recycled.

The Christmas tree hunt begins in early fall when DNR foresters scout for potential candidates in Minnesota's 58 state forests.

Annually, 500,000 Christmas trees are harvested in Minnesota. For every Christmas tree harvested, one to three seedlings are planted in its place, making it a renewable product.

People can cut their own Christmas trees from a Minnesota state forest, as long as they obtain a special products permit.

Contact a DNR forestry office at www.mndnr.gov/areas/forestry/index.html for more details.

For more about information about Nemadji State Forest, visit www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_forests/sft00035/index.html.