PINE, Colorado — When it comes to Christmas trees, we all have our favorites whether it's out of a box or out of the forest.
A popular Christmas tree permit program inside the Pike and San Isabel National Forests has become a family tradition for many over the past 30 years. But the program isn't just helping spread holiday cheer, it's also helping our forests.
In a place where it always looks a lot like Christmas, people from all over Colorado come to take a piece of the holiday home.
"These are all too big," said Daria Labinsky of Arvada. She and her husband, Stan Hieronymus, have turned tree selection into a science.
"This one we determined is legal. We do carry around a measure so we know," Hieronymus said. "We're looking for trees that will hold a lot of ornaments and don't have gaps."
They've been cutting down their own Christmas trees for 25 years in spots all around the country, searching for the perfect specimen through 13 national forests including Pike National Forest on a chilly Friday afternoon.
Over the years, their annual search has become a fun family tradition.
"That's the other thing, when you find a tree," Hieronymus said.
"Remember where it is," Labinsky adds.
"So it's nice when our daughter was smaller, we'd just park her someplace," Hieronymus said with a laugh.
And the perfect tree?
"We're not tree experts, we just know what we like," he said.
"It's all in the eye of the beholder," said Brian Banks, District Ranger, South Platte Ranger District – Pike-San Isabel National Forest & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.
According to Banks, demand for Christmas tree permits is always high.
"The weekends in this area are bananas," Banks said.
Already, they've nearly sold out of their 8,000 permits for the season, Banks said.
"Our program is actually the largest in the country. So yeah, it's a big deal," Banks said. "And we use people harvesting these trees as a maintenance effort to help preserve the treatments we've done to the forest. So by cutting your Christmas tree on the national forest, you're contributing to the management of your public lands."
And it's helping the forest stay healthy down the road.
“A healthy forest is a forest that has diversity in it, so meadows and openings as well as forested areas," Banks said. "By cutting a tree you’re actually helping mother nature by preserving those openings which improve wildlife habitat and it also reduces the risk of high intensity wildfire."
And for many, selecting a Christmas tree in the Pike and San Isabel National Forests is a more than 30-year tradition for many Coloradoans, including the Banks family.
"I have. I was actually just tearing up this morning looking at a picture of my now 16-year-old," Banks said.
Those memories of picking out a Christmas tree now feel so special, Banks said.
Farther inside the forest, Labinsky and Hieronymus spot it — the perfect tree.
"We got a winner," Labinsky said.
What makes it just right?
"Oh, all the ones we didn't like as much," Hieronymus said.
With their newly cut tree carefully latched onto the top of their SUV, the pair head back home to Arvada.
Banks said those at the U.S. Forest Service are so happy to be a part of so many peoples' holiday seasons, and ready to welcome in the next generation of families and trees to the forest in the years to come.
"Absolutely," Banks said. "We look forward to hosting this forever."
While many of the US Forest Service's Christmas tree permits are nearly sold out, there are still a few left. You can find more information and buy your permit online here.
That permit will have information on where to go as well as maps and guidelines for cutting down your Christmas tree.
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