Every year, a different national forest is selected to provide a tree to appear on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol building for the holiday season.
In what is now a 50 year tradition, one of the nations 154 national forests provides a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the holiday season. This year, the 2021 tree will come from the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in California.
Six Rivers National Forest is a U.S. National Forest established on June 3, 1947 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman from portions of Klamath, Siskiyou and Trinity National Forests and is located in the northwestern corner of California. Contained in parts of four counties including Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou, Six Rivers National Forest consists of over one million acres of land containing a variety of ecosystems and 137,000 acres of old growth forest.
After almost a year of planning, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, an 84-foot white fir nicknamed “Sugar Bear,” will be harvested from the Six Rivers National Forest in a virtual ceremony on Oct. 24th, 2021 at 10:00am.
The harvest ceremony will include Michael Mavris, the 2021 Youth Tree Lighter, a fifth grade student from Mary Peacock Elementary School in Crescent City, who’s essay was chosen out of more than 50 entries.
The People’s Tree will be harvested using a two-person crosscut saw, which is more eco-friendly and fire safe, as well as celebrates decades of U.S. Forest Service crosscutting tradition.
Once wrapped and secured, the People’s Tree will begin its journey from Northern California to Washington, D.C., Oct. 29th. On its almost 3,500 mile journey, the tree will visit more than 20 communities throughout California and across the United States for a series of outdoor festivities hosted by local organizations.
The tree will be displayed on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., with a tree- lighting ceremony hosted by the Architect of the Capitol and Speaker of the House in early December.
