jeremy m. lange

+ projects: - o' tannenbaum

As the U.S. economic outlook grows darker, one business sector that seems to be unaffected is the North Carolina Christmas tree farm. As more people stay home for the holidays, they don't want to give up their tree, even it it costs $30, no small amount in hard times.

There are more than 1,600 tree farmers in North Carolina, with an estimated 50 million trees being grown on 25,000 acres, much of it former cattle farms. More than 2 million Fraser firs, considered the Ferrari of holiday trees, come from Ashe County, in the northwestern part of the state.

The week before Thanksgiving is the busiest for the tree business. There is money to be made in the "Choose and Cut," farms at which people hike through the rows, saw in hand, searching for the perfect tree. But only a small percentage of trees are harvested that way, leaving the pre-cut businesses to set the pace for the Christmas season. If the trees remain on the farms after Thanksgiving, they may not sell, or they might have to wait until next year to be harvested.

It was a cold, snowy week in Ashe County. Yet there was no choice but to harvest. Over the border in rural Virginia, where the trees are loaded, workers filled 30 semi trucks a day, at 600 trees per truck, for seven straight days. The farm shipped 125,000 trees out of state, mainly to Florida, using 30 full-time, local employees, and up to 60 immigrants, who are in the U.S. on temporary guest worker visas.

Without the immigrants, who return year after year, this feat would be nearly impossible. The trees must be cut, hauled, baled (wrapped) and brought to a loading yard. Fraser firs prefer the high, steep mountain sides, so the majority of the work is done by hand, as workers cut the trees, then drag them to a staging area near a road. There, the trees wait for a ride to the yard, where, for optimal freshness, they continue their journey in climate-controlled trucks.

Some find homes as far away as Japan. Others are sold by recovering substance abusers and church groups in a parking lot or a mall near you.

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Small Fraser fir trees, the highest quality of the Christmas tree types, grow on a mountain hillside. Ashe Co. is ideal for Fraser firs as the altitude, soil, and temperatures are perfect for the finicky trees. The trees are grown at nurseries until they are 5 years old and then planted. They will grow to an average of 7 to 8 feet tall, the "ideal" Christmas tree height, before being cut and sold. Some are cut smaller and larger, but the majority of sales come in the 7 to 8 foot range.
   
Trees that have grown to their desired height are cut by hand, due to the steep terrain in which they grow, and loaded onto trucks for hauling to a loading yard.
   
Different types of Fraser fir trees grow in a tree lot just over the border in Virginia from Ashe County, NC. Farmer Robertson looks over the trees to see which types might be best for his retail Christmas tree farm. The types have been separated on the farm, to test which families of trees, from slightly different areas of the state, grow the "best" to be sold commercially. The project is sponsored by NC State University, which does many experiments with tree types at the School of Forestry.
     
  
A Nativity scene at a church next to a Christmas tree farm. Ashe Co. is ideal for Fraser firs as the altitude, soil, and temperatures are perfect for the finicky trees.
   
Mexican guest workers, members of the Federal H2A guest worker program, load a semi truck headed for Florida with Fraser firs, the highest quality type of Christmas tree. Guest workers make up a vital part of the Christmas tree industry. During the busiest part of the season, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, they arrive in from other areas of the country to cut, bale, and load trees. Many local workers are year round employees of the large farms, but without the foreign guest workers, the industry could not provide the numbers of tree that the country requires.
   
Stumps mark the site of cut trees. They are then set out for the tractor that will haul them down the steep hillside. Most of the cutting and hauling is done by hand until a rough road can be reached. The trees are baled, ie wrapped, before being put on a truck to prevent damage tot he valuable trees. The stumps are left in the soil to decompose and provide organic fuel for the next round of trees that will be planted between the stumps.
     
  
Guest workers, from Guatemala and Mexico, bale, ie wrap, the cut trees and set them out for the tractor that will haul them down the steep hillside. Most of the cutting and hauling is done by hand until a rough road can be reached.
  
Guest workers, from Guatemala and Mexico, haul the cut trees and set them out for the tractor that will haul them down the steep hillside. Most of the cutting and hauling is done by hand until a rough road can be reached. The trees are baled, ie wrapped, before being put on a truck to prevent damage to the valuable trees.
   
At the TROSA women's Christmas tree lot at Northgate Mall, Nikitia Wilkins, left, and Susan Seagle, 2nd from right, trim a tree before taking it to a customer's car. All the trees come from North Carolina and their sale is one of the biggest money makers for TROSA.TROSA, Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, provides shelter and food for addicts that want to beat their addictions.
     
  
Fraser Fir