WASHINGTON - The 2008 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will be a 70-footer from the Bitterroot National Forest and its thousands of ornaments will be handmade by Montana children, the state's congressional delegation announced Thursday.
Montana will also provide about 65 smaller trees to various agency headquarters around Washington.
Like the 2008 presidential race already under way, Bitterroot forest officials have begun scouting “candidate trees” with the right size, shape and color.
The architect of the Capitol will visit western Montana during the summer of 2008 to personally choose the tree, most likely a fir or spruce.
The tree will be cut that October, and hauled in a specially designed truck to Washington, D.C. The tree will stop in several Montana cities before it heads out of state.
The speaker of the House will hold a tree lighting ceremony shortly after Thanksgiving.
New U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell, who just moved to Washington from Missoula, praised the choice, saying in a statement, “It will be wonderful to see a reflection of Montana in our nation's capital.”
Keeping with tradition, the tree will feature as many as 5,000 ornaments crafted by residents of its state of origin. Most of the 2008 ornaments will be made by Montana children as part of a statewide project, the delegation said.
Montana provided the
U.S. Capitol Christmas tree once before, in 1989. That 60-foot Engelmann spruce came from the Kootenai National Forest.
Like most things in Washington, the Capitol tree was embroiled in controversy in recent years. In 1999, the tree was renamed the Capitol Holiday Tree. But after a political uproar and action by then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., the tree's official name was changed back to the Capitol Christmas Tree.
The lighting ceremony for the Capitol tree began in 1964, using a live tree. After a windstorm and root damage, the tree died. The U.S. Forest Service has provided trees every year since 1970.
The Capitol tree is different from the live National Christmas Tree near the White House, which is lighted every year by the president and first lady.
Lawsuit looming over Swan logging
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
KALISPELL - Environmentalists say they'll sue the state of Montana if foresters move forward with plans to log portions of the Swan River State Forest.
“The massive amount of logging and road work that DNRC intends to do in this project will have detrimental effects on bull trout,” said Arlene Montgomery, program director for Friends of the Wild Swan. “South Lost and Soup creeks have been designated critical habitat for bull trout and deserve a higher level of protection. Instead, this project gives them less protection than even previous timber sales.”
At issue is the “Three Creeks Project,” a multi-phased logging proposition that would cut about 23.7 million board feet from 1,884 acres in the South Lost, Cilly and Soup creek drainages. The project includes logging 1,222 acres of old-growth forest, although 658 of those acres still would qualify as “old-growth” - even after the logging.
The project anticipates 19 miles of new roads, 47 miles of road improvements and the relocation of a road up South Lost Creek.
Montgomery and her group say the project's large scope threatens grizzly bears and bull trout, and so violates the Endangered Species Act.
But David Groeschl, forest management bureau chief for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, says the plan is not overly ambitious. In fact, he said, the environmental analysis for the Three Creeks work covers several separate timber sales, any one of which is about average in size and scope.
The first phase, for instance, would take just 6.8 million board feet of timber from 679 acres, including 420 acres of old-growth forest habitat. It also would require five miles of road construction.
And all of it, Groeschl said, “is fully compliant with the Swan Valley Conservation Agreement.”
That agreement, signed by both public and private forest managers, attempts to coordinate activities throughout the Swan. In recent months, however, it has been undergoing substantial revision in light of changing circumstances.
Plum Creek Timber Co.'s continued sales of forestland for residential development sparked the revision, as did the listing of bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.
As to whether the Three Creek's project would pass muster with a soon-to-be-revised Swan Valley Conservation Agreement, Groeschl would not predict.
“I don't know that,” he said. “I don't know what the final document will look like.”
Regardless, he said, the sale need only fit the current agreement, not a future revision.
But, Montgomery argued, “The state cannot violate the ESA, or postpone its obligations under the act, while it implements projects that harm imperiled species.”
Groeschl did not discuss the specifics of the complaint, but did say DNRC looked carefully at endangered species' concerns before approving the logging work.
“The appropriate mitigations were developed and implemented,” he said. “It took us three years to develop this project, and we believe it has quite a bit of public support.”
But not, apparently, Montgomery's support. Her group's move puts DNRC on notice that if the state does not comply with the Endangered Species Act within 60 days, Friends of the Wild Swan will sue in federal court.
Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
KALISPELL - Environmentalists say they'll sue the state of Montana if foresters move forward with plans to log portions of the Swan River State Forest.
“The massive amount of logging and road work that DNRC intends to do in this project will have detrimental effects on bull trout,” said Arlene Montgomery, program director for Friends of the Wild Swan. “South Lost and Soup creeks have been designated critical habitat for bull trout and deserve a higher level of protection. Instead, this project gives them less protection than even previous timber sales.”
At issue is the “Three Creeks Project,” a multi-phased logging proposition that would cut about 23.7 million board feet from 1,884 acres in the South Lost, Cilly and Soup creek drainages. The project includes logging 1,222 acres of old-growth forest, although 658 of those acres still would qualify as “old-growth” - even after the logging.
The project anticipates 19 miles of new roads, 47 miles of road improvements and the relocation of a road up South Lost Creek.
Montgomery and her group say the project's large scope threatens grizzly bears and bull trout, and so violates the Endangered Species Act.
But David Groeschl, forest management bureau chief for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, says the plan is not overly ambitious. In fact, he said, the environmental analysis for the Three Creeks work covers several separate timber sales, any one of which is about average in size and scope.
The first phase, for instance, would take just 6.8 million board feet of timber from 679 acres, including 420 acres of old-growth forest habitat. It also would require five miles of road construction.
And all of it, Groeschl said, “is fully compliant with the Swan Valley Conservation Agreement.”
That agreement, signed by both public and private forest managers, attempts to coordinate activities throughout the Swan. In recent months, however, it has been undergoing substantial revision in light of changing circumstances.
Plum Creek Timber Co.'s continued sales of forestland for residential development sparked the revision, as did the listing of bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.
As to whether the Three Creek's project would pass muster with a soon-to-be-revised Swan Valley Conservation Agreement, Groeschl would not predict.
“I don't know that,” he said. “I don't know what the final document will look like.”
Regardless, he said, the sale need only fit the current agreement, not a future revision.
But, Montgomery argued, “The state cannot violate the ESA, or postpone its obligations under the act, while it implements projects that harm imperiled species.”
Groeschl did not discuss the specifics of the complaint, but did say DNRC looked carefully at endangered species' concerns before approving the logging work.
“The appropriate mitigations were developed and implemented,” he said. “It took us three years to develop this project, and we believe it has quite a bit of public support.”
But not, apparently, Montgomery's support. Her group's move puts DNRC on notice that if the state does not comply with the Endangered Species Act within 60 days, Friends of the Wild Swan will sue in federal court.
Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com
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