Christmas trees: Only 15 chopping days left

For Christmas tree farms in the Pacific Northwest, the chopping season is well under way.

While most retailers count heavily on Christmas to boost annual sales, the next three weeks will mark the only sales of the year for some of these farmers, who have spent nearly a decade cultivating a new tree crop. Despite hard economic times, shoppers are still buying Christmas trees.

"I think people will give up a lot of things, but they won't give up Christmas with children," said Lynn Douglass, who along with her husband runs Christmas Creek Tree Farm in North Bend, about 30 miles southeast of Seattle. The popular farm sold out of trees early, announcing Monday it was closed for the rest of the season.

Last year, 31.3 million natural Christmas trees worth $1.3 billion were sold in the United States, estimates the National Christmas Tree Association, based on a nationwide survey of households.

Most Christmas tree shoppers go to chain stores, nurseries or parking lots and buy pre-cut trees. But about one in six households buying a real tree cuts their own, usually at U-cut tree farms like Christmas Creek, which offers hay rides, cookies and cider, and photos with Santa Claus. They provide the hand saws and help with loading the trees.

A tiny fraction of tree shoppers trek into national forests to scout and harvest a wild tree. Last year, the U.S. Forest Service, which issues the permits, sold nearly 230,000 Christmas trees, including about 19,200 from Washington.

Officials say about 7,000 Christmas trees will be removed this season from the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, one of the biggest producers of Christmas trees in the Forest Service system. Hundreds of Seattle-area families took advantage of the snow-free roads over the weekend, hiked into the forest and left with wild fir trees strapped to their vehicles.

Amy Reller, of Bellevue, wanted her kids to experience the hunt for a Christmas tree in a national forest as she did growing up in Eugene, Ore. "You get an unconventional tree," she said.

They saved a bundle, too, paying just $10 for the permit to cut down an 11-foot noble fir, which costs more than $80 at a farm or retail lot; a 6-foot tree can be bought at a farm for about $50.

"It's like a treasure hunt for the kids," said Jennifer Alderman, of Kirkland, who hiked with her husband and three kids for about a half-hour in the Mount Baker forest before spotting the 11-foot fir tree they took home. "I like the whole sensory experience of smelling the trees, being out in the cold, picking up little pine cones, the exploration of nature."

Fun on the farm

The 35-acre Christmas Creek farm is a different sort of winter wonderland.

Past the entrance gates, which resemble giant candy canes, rows and rows of Christmas trees await shoppers' hacksaws. Parents with young kids, some hoisted on their shoulders, lined up to enter a cabin. Inside was a fireplace, hot cider, tree-shaped cookies and an audience with Santa Claus — the main attraction for some families.

"We've seen a lot of Santas, but he's the real Santa," said Redmond resident Lori Meyer, who snapped photos of her 3-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son on Santa's lap.

Outside the cabin, two boys groaned loudly and tugged at a 7-foot Christmas tree while their father, Jeff Denenholz, of Seattle, caught his breath for the third time. He had the baling machine in his sights and was certain this was the biggest tree he's ever bought.

"Jake, it's not going to get home by Christmas," Joshua, 7, quipped to his 10-year-old brother, who was trying to drag the tree a few feet on his own.

Like many tree farms, this one is a family business. Douglass says her family bought the land — horse pasture — in 1977. The family started growing Christmas trees and sold their first crop in the early 1980s.

It takes five to seven years to grow fir trees from one-foot seedlings to a marketable height of about 6 feet. The most popular fir, the noble, is harvested only after a decade or more, she says.

"It's a really big gamble," Douglass says. "On the 26th of December, nobody wants these trees."

The gamble paid off this year. But while Christmas Creek's stock is depleted, dozens of other farms still have trees available.

Douglass doesn't know if her children will carry on the family tradition. One works at Microsoft. Another flies airplanes.

"We get a lot of requests from builders," Douglass says. "I'm sure some day it will be developed, but right now we're happy just growing Christmas trees."