U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tag

Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Commentary, Essays, Joy To America, National Forests, Native Culture, Podcast, Public Land, U.S. Forest Service / 04.12.2023

Immediately following my return from Washington D.C. - I mean on the flight home – I was inundated with kind words of support and condolences for the demise of my Christmas Tree. Due to excessively high winds early in last week of November 2023, it is indeed true that the beautifully decorated holiday tree provided to the White House by the National Park Service sadly fell over. News reports in photographs showed the tree lying on its side. But as I graciously replied to each of these thoughtful...

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Black History, Black Lives Matter, Capitol Christmas Tree, National Forests, National Parks, U.S. Forest Service / 20.11.2023

The 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree was harvested and packed for transport to Washington D.C. with the assistance of the young men and women from the U.S. Job Corps of Harpers Ferry West Virginia. This year, all were Black or Hispanic. As much as I would like to believe that this is not a big deal, I must acknowledge that this represents the change that we all must strive for in order to preserve the long-term sustainability of our natural resources both here in...

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Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Environmental Journalism, Joy To America, National Forests, Public Land, U.S. Forest Service / 06.11.2020

On November 5, 2020 members of the United States Forest Service successfully harvested the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre Gunnison National Forests of Colorado. Despite the tumult of the global COVID-19 Pandemic and a contentious presidential election these dedicated men and women in partnership with corporate sponsors, small private businesses, local government agencies and nonprofit organizations coordinated the complicated task of extracting an 55-foot tall 82- year-old Engleman Spruce Tree for safe transport by truck to Washington D.C. Taken from the GMUG, the ancestral...

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Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Photography, Uncategorized / 24.12.2018

It’s Christmas Eve and I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though back home in Wisconsin I’m lamenting the fact that there’s not a flake of snow on the ground and it’s unseasonably warm for a late December day in North America, there is still so much joy in the world. After many long months of travel I’ve seen a lot of our great nation. Following the path of the United States Capitol Christmas Tree I connected with some truly wonderful folks from one end of...

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Adventure Activism, Books, Capitol Christmas Tree, National Forests, On Assignment, Public Land, Special Events / 15.12.2016

The Joy Trip Project has published a small book of photographs depicting the events surrounding the 2016 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour. Although many of these images were widely distributed online via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter I am very happy to be able to share the work of this latest project in printed form. This book in two formats (7X7 and 10X8) is available now at Blurb.com as a lasting reminder of the many special people I had the pleasure to meet and photograph on this wonderful adventure. In...

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