What is the environmental impact of using a real
Christmas tree?
 As
we examine our personal conduct on the planet, we can reasonably
ask what impact does carrying on with the real Christmas tree tradition
have on the land and our environment, and are Christmas trees being
grown in an environmentally sustainable way?
While we so often hear of battles lost on the environmental
front, there is good news that is truly welcome about farm grown,
real Christmas trees. Christmas tree farms are organizing themselves
to work with farm extension agents and agriculture officials to
create real and verifiable farm
sustainability standards. And scientific comparative studies
have now shown
real Christmas trees better for the environment than artificial
trees.
Santa & Sons Oregon Christmas tree farm is environmentally
certified
Santa & Sons grows Noble Fir Christmas Trees at Whitewater Ranch,
a family owned and operated farm using only sustainable farming methods
that have been inspected by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and
certified to be in compliance with the new SERF
environmentally sustainable farm standards.
Santa & Sons is a member of  The
Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers, which was formed
in Oregon in 2007 to ensure that growers are utilizing sustainable
farming practices in the production of Christmas trees. On-site
farm inspections are conducted by an established independent auditing
firm, The Freer Consulting Co. of Seattle, WA.
Coalition Christmas tree growers agree to farm using
methods that are conscious of the environment, and to submit their
farms to an ongoing series of independent physical audits that verify
compliance with strict certification program standards for Soil
and Water Conservation, Riparian/Wetland Management, Biodiversity ,
Nutrient Management, Pest Management, Site Selection, Worker Health
and Hygiene, and Consumer Education.
Christmas trees provide rural jobs in America
 The
environmental story of Christmas trees is unlike many others. Christmas
tree farming is very labor intensive, by today's standards, remarkably
so. Not only does this mean less equipment on the land but it generates
lots of stable employment in rural areas. The commitment of Christmas
tree growers to this long term crop provides important and predictable
jobs in a farm sector that has seen far too few in recent years.
People's livelihoods really do matter, and farming Christmas trees
provides an environmentally sustainable avenue of employment in
areas moving away from the extractive industries of the past.
Christmas tree farms are good stewards of the earth
To
understand the current state of the environmental impact we need
to look at the Christmas tree industry as it now stands. Nowadays
the tradition of going to the woods to bring home a tree for Christmas
is really just a nostalgic reminder. All the Christmas trees being
commercially produced in the United States are now grown on tree
farms, and on these lands Christmas trees are a conservation crop.
Growing trees offer many benefits that help the land
rebound and diversify. By replacing annual crops that require plowing,
disking, and harrowing each year, Christmas trees longer crop cycle
of eight or more years provides many avenues for environmental improvements.
As Christmas trees take root, we are growing and preserving
soils. Many farmlands are highly depleted of organic matter. Christmas
trees are pruned by
hand every summer, and this deposits large quantities of twigs and
needles onto the ground. This combines with a level of grass and
weeds that accumulate over the eight years or so that it takes a
Christmas tree to grow. Mature roots physically hold the soil against
erosion, and later add more organic matter as the stumps and roots
rot. After a few years of growth the young trees help protect the
ground from what is called impact erosion, which is a result of
the heavy rainfall in Christmas tree producing areas.
When
the trees get big enough, the shade they produce helps reduce soil
evaporation, and offers refuge for a remarkable diversity of wildlife.
Small birds probably get the most benefit, but small rodents and
other mammals support populations of birds of prey. Deer are common
and even elk are in some of the more remote fields, drawn to graze
on some of their preferred foods that grow as weeds between the
rows.
Another important way Christmas trees impact the
environment is controlling runoff by changing the timing of the
release of water from the soil in a beneficial way. Obviously, when
receiving a deluge of heavy rainfall, land with a humus layer and
tree roots can slow down or even eliminate surface flows of water
runoff and increase the absorption of water into the earth. This
kind of sustained rainfall happens with some regularity in the Pacific
Northwest. Land growing Christmas trees will more slowly release
that water during the dry summer months, helping to recharge aquifers
and sustain low season stream flows.
 As
farmers, we care deeply about the land where we live and work, and
we are grateful for the rural lifestyle Christmas tree farms help
sustain. Helping the environment is for us, an important part of
being at peace with the earth and with one another, which is what
Christmas is really all about.
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