Christmas tree cutting open in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

On Thanksgiving Day, the Kenai Nationwide Wildlife Refuge opened to these hoping to cut down their very own Christmas tree.

Till Christmas Day, anybody can head out to the refuge and lower down their very own vacation tree without spending a dime. Households are restricted to at least one tree every, and can’t take a tree taller than 20 ft.

“I do know in my household, the desire is to exit and harvest a Christmas tree and produce it dwelling, and I do know it’s one thing which means rather a lot to a number of of us,” stated refuge supervisor Andy Loranger.

Loranger stated the custom sees a number of participation, on the Kenai and past.

“We actually don’t have a precise rely or something, I do know it’s pretty in style, and fairly a number of of us right here domestically will take benefit, however we’ve even heard of oldsters coming down from Anchorage,” he stated.

Loranger couldn’t say for certain whether or not tree reducing on the refuge is extra sustainable than shopping for one from the shop, however did say the timber out there within the refuge aren’t put at any danger by being harvested for Christmas.

“Definitely, many of the timber, commercially, come from business operations which are rising timber particularly to chop,” he stated. “And the overwhelming majority of tree reducing on the refuge goes to be white or black spruce, and people are each species which are going to be quite common right here, so there aren’t any points from that standpoint.”

The timber can solely be harvested with hand instruments, like a hatchet, ax or handsaw. They are often taken from wherever within the refuge, aside from inside 150 ft of a street, lake, stream, path, campground or picnic space. Additionally they can’t be lower down within the Refuge Headquarters and Customer Middle space. Loranger stated that is only for aesthetic causes.

Southcentral residents can even head to the Mat-Su Valley to chop down a tree. For extra info and maps go to dnr.alaska.gov.