Montana
Montana’s Capitol Christmas tree harvested near Seeley • Daily Montanan
Most years, the tallest Christmas tree harvested in Montana, as far as the Daily Montanan is aware, takes up residence under the Capitol rotunda in Helena for the holiday season, towering nearly three stories tall and adorned with more than 3,500 lights.
On Monday, as Gov. Greg Gianforte looked on, foresters felled this year’s Capitol Christmas tree in the Lolo National Forest.
Near Seeley Lake, a Good Neighbor Authority project between the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Forest Service provided an active forest management site to harvest the Douglas Fir that will serve as the state’s Christmas tree, all while contributing to the health of the forest.
“Each year, it’s a privilege to bring a tree from our public lands into the state capitol for all to enjoy,” Gianforte said in a statement. “Through the Good Neighbor Authority, the State of Montana and the Forest Service work together to actively manage our forests and improve their health. This year’s tree is an example of the good work happening to reduce fire risk in Montana.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office said they didn’t know how tall the Douglas Fir was, but will have a better idea once it’s installed in the rotunda.
The Capitol Christmas tree is selected from a different parcel of public land around the state each year. Similarly, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., displays a Christmas tree harvested from a different National Forest each year. The last tree from Montana — a 79-foot tall Engelmann Spruce from the Kootenai National Forest — was selected in 2017.
This year, a 53-foot red fir named Silver Belle all the way from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada arrived in D.C. over the weekend to become the nation’s Capitol Christmas Tree.
Montana has a long history of producing commercial Christmas trees.
At its height in the middle of the last century, northwest Montana was shipping more than 4 million trees to homes around the country, earning the town of Eureka the nickname “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.”
Now, Montana doesn’t rank in the top 20 states for growing commercial trees, with just 6,338 cultivated trees harvested in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
However, following the governor’s lead, Montanans are able to harvest trees from the state’s vast public lands — data that is not available from state or federal agencies — creating a tradition for many Montana families.
The 2025 State Capitol Christmas tree will displayed in the Capitol rotunda throughout the holiday season. The governor and first lady invite Montanans to join them at the Capitol for a tree lighting ceremony on Monday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m.
The governor encourages Montanans to participate in the unique tradition of harvesting Christmas trees from public lands to benefit forest health and resiliency as well as improve wildlife habitat.
Cutting any trees on state trust land requires a permit from the local DNRC field office. The cost is $10 per tree. To find a local DNRC field office to secure a permit in person to harvest a Christmas tree, see the map here.
Montanans can also harvest trees from National Forest land with a $5 permit, though some restrictions on height and species apply to trees from federal land.
Forest Service permits can be obtained online by visiting recreation.gov and searching “Christmas tree” and the forest you plan to cut it from, i.e. “Flathead National Forest, Lolo National Forest.”
HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.
County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.
The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”
The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.
The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.
Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate
- 13,327 required
- 18,772 accepted
- 7,812 rejected
Kimberly Persico, MT-01
- 6,742 required
- 563 accepted
- 156 rejected
Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02
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- 7,274 required
- 7,754 accepted
- 4,720 rejected
Severe storms moved through parts of Montana on Thursday, prompting a total of 5 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Reports included strong wind gusts and hail in several communities, including Augusta, Choteau, Sunburst, Bigfork, Kalispell and Evergreen.
The strongest reported wind gust was 60 mph near Augusta, while hail up to 1 inch was reported near Evergreen and Kalispell.
STORM REPORTS:
12 SE Grant — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
7 NNE Augusta — 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Sunburst — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Ennis — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
3 SSW Ennis — 52 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 E Helena — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
19 E Swan Lake — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 NNW Yaak — thunderstorm wind damage – Multiple downed trees reported along Highway 2 between MM 3 and 8
3 WSW Blacktail — 53 mph thunderstorm wind gust
1 NNW Troy — 49 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Turah — 0.88″ hail
1 NNW Bigfork — 0.75″ hail
3 SW La Salle — 0.50″ hail
2 N Evergreen — 1.00″ hail
1 W Kalispell — 1.00″ hail
3 WNW Kalispell — 0.75″ hail
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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A man from Las Vegas has been sentenced after stealing coins and precious metals from a Helena shop in Montana.
This comes after Bishop Lott, 47, pleaded guilty in January to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.
A judge sentenced Lott on Thursday to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $276,153.08 in restitution to the Helena business as well as five other theft victims.
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The government alleged in court documents that Lott, along with Ricky Rynell Rose, broke into Wayne Miller Coins in Helena and stole nearly $59,000 in coins and precious metals from a Helena business.
Rose pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 39 months in prison.
The Helena Police Department received a call on March 3, 2024, reporting that Wayne Miller Coins had been burglarized earlier that day.
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As part of their investigation, Helena police officers reviewed surveillance footage from multiple businesses. They analyzed email account data, which led them to Lott and Rose, who had taken the stolen material to Nevada.
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