JACKSON, Wyo. — It’s that time of year, and local national forests are encouraging those who opt for cutting down a Christmas tree to be mindful of the best practices that will support the forest to ensure this tradition continues to be possible.
Evan Guzik, Shoshone National Forest (SNF) public affairs officer, said in a previous interview that choosing a tree is an important opportunity for people “to engage with the forest on a deeper level and create a lasting connection to public lands.” While Christmas tree cutting is a small part of the breadth of overall forest health management, he told Buckrail it is still a way for the public to participate in those larger management goals and feel emotionally invested in the continued protection of these resources.
Mary Cernicek, Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) public affairs officer, said those goals include promoting healthy trees, preventing wildfires and supporting wildlife.
In the BTNF and neighboring SNF, cutting a tree under the designated height of 20 feet in an overcrowded stand can allow remaining trees to grow healthier without competition. Cutting those younger, shorter trees also reduces what’s known as ladder fuels. According to Cernicek and Guzik, dense vegetation with branches interlocked from the ground up creates a literal ladder for ground fires, which are typically slower, lower intensity fires, to climb into treetops.
In the treetops, fires can be picked up by the wind and spread much faster between stands. Forests with bigger, healthier trees farther apart mitigate fast fire spread.
Cernicek also encourages permit-holders to pull a conifer out of an aspen stand if possible.
“Aspens are desirable for different wildlife species here, and the conifers can outcompete them,” Cernicek told Buckrail in 2023. “When you pull those conifers out, it helps the aspens do better.”
Guzik said stump height restrictions are another way to help out animals and humans alike; leaving tall tree stumps behind can pose a physical hazard to travel once the snow melts away in the spring. And Cernicek said lower stumps also contribute to a more natural forest aesthetic, where reducing evidence of topped trees aligns better with the Leave No Trace principle.
“People feel good when they know they’re contributing to an overall management goal, so we can continue these family traditions and collect these trees every year,” Cernicek said. “It’s for the benefit of the wildlife when you have thriving aspen stands, it’s a benefit to the remaining trees on the landscape when they’re able to grow without competition for resources and it supports the overall fire principles when we can have lower intensity ground fires.”
Forests are currently facing a number of threats; Cernicek told Buckrail the BTNF is struggling a lot with invasive species, trail-cutting and mismanagement of human waste, among other things.
The continuing uptick in invasive species present in national forests is a particularly large concern for the BTNF. Cernicek noted invasive species hitchhike on everything from watercraft to bike tires to hiking boots, tents and hay that isn’t certified weed-free. User-created trails are also unsustainable, especially those that go uphill and can cause erosion on the landscape. And with more people going out to enjoy the national forest, Cernicek added that forest managers are seeing that many don’t know how to responsibly manage the accumulating human and dog waste.
According to the BTNF Wilderness Ethics, human waste should be buried in a “cathole” six inches deep and at least 200 feet from any water source; it should also be covered with soil, twigs and needles to disguise it when finished. Dog waste in all areas and human waste in high alpine areas should be packed out, since waste decomposes especially slowly in high alpine zones.
This story runs annually.
