Outdoors
Rec
B
Saturday, November 27, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
The search is on for the perfect tree
Christmas tree cutting
permits for sale at
several locations or
online, for just $5
WHERE TO GET A PERMIT
Christmas tree permits cost $5 and are
available at these businesses:
• Bi Mart, Baker City
• D&B Supply, Baker City
• York’s, Baker City
• The Gold Post, Sumpter
• Burnt River Market, Unity
• Hitchin’ Post Grocery, Richland
• Halfway Market, Halfway
• Wallowa Food City, Wallowa
• Dollar Stretcher, Enterprise
• Sports Corral, Joseph
• Miller’s Home Center, La Grande
• Bi Mart, La Grande
• Hometown Hardware, Union
• Island City Market & Deli, Island City
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — The
hunting season is on, but the
hunters in this case needn’t
worry about their quarry
detecting their scent or hearing
the snap of a twig.
Nor will the objects of this
hunt sprint away long before you
have them in your sights.
At most they might shiver a
bit if the wind is high.
And yet Christmas trees,
despite lacking the keen instincts
and awe-inspiring agility of a
deer or elk, do not always make
themselves readily available.
They sometimes hide, as the
saying goes, in plain sight.
Trees, of course, tend to grow
in groves. And this is a typical
trait for the grand and white firs
that are a favorite Christmas tree
in Northeastern Oregon forests.
When you come across a
cluster of firs — especially if
they’re slathered in snow — it
can be difficult to distinguish
between a specimen with gaping
gaps in its limbs or a crooked
trunk, and one that would be the
crowning holiday adornment for
your living room.
For many families, though,
this seasonal search is as integral
to the holidays as carols, Charlie
Brown and cookies decorated
with frosting.
And it’s considerably less
expensive than most hunts.
A permit to cut a tree on
national forest land costs just $5.
“If you are on the hunt for the
perfect tree, you are welcome
to harvest one from the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National Forest,”
said Shaun McKinney, super-
visor for the Wallowa-Whitman,
which is based in Baker City.
The same goes for the Uma-
tilla and Malheur national
forests.
“You’ll have a memorable
adventure and a story to share
with family and friends,”
McKinney said.
Permits are available at many
local stores (see list in the shaded
box on this page) or online by
setting up an account at Recre-
ation.gov.
Lest anyone worry about con-
tributing to deforestation by cut-
ting a Christmas tree, quite the
opposite is true, Forest Service
officials say.
Removing a small-diameter
tree — the limits are 15 feet tall
and a trunk six inches in diam-
eter — can improve forest health
by reducing the competition for
by contrast, often involves
trudging through snow, over the
hills and through the woods,
with the likelihood of getting
sticky sap on your hands and
clothes.
If you do venture into the
forest, prepare for slippery roads
and chilly temperatures. Bring
food, warm drinks and extra
clothing, and make sure some-
body knows where you’re going
and when you expect to return.
Here’s a list of some of the
common tree species in our
region:
Grand fir/white fir
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald, File
Dragging a grand fir through the snow near Sumpter during a previous year’s Christmas tree excursion.
sunlight, water and nutrients,
allowing remaining trees to grow
faster.
“In most parts of the forest,
removing small trees reduces the
risk of wildfire, helps other trees
to grow larger and more fire-re-
sistant, and creates open areas
that provide forage for wildlife,”
according to a press release from
the Forest Service. “So don’t feel
bad when you cut that little tree.
You are supporting a healthy
forest.”
Other guidelines for cutting a
Christmas tree on national forest
land:
• Cut your tree at least 50 feet
away from the road.
• Clean up any trimmings or
limbs.
• Leave stumps no higher than
10 inches. It is not legal to “top”
a tree taller than 15 feet.
• Remove any green limbs left
that remain on the stump.
• Do not cut in active timber
sales or areas that have been
planted with new trees.
• Do not cut on private land,
wilderness areas, designated
campgrounds, or existing tree
plantations.
• Do not cut trees in the fol-
lowing areas: Baker City Water-
shed, Anthony Lakes Camp-
ground or Ski Area, Starkey
Experimental Forest, La Grande
Watershed, Hurricane Creek, and
Lostine drainages.
• Do not cut trees in posted
Old Growth areas or within
1/4 mile of wild and scenic
corridors.
• Christmas tree cutting
within sight of a state highway is
prohibited.
National forests in the Blue
Mountains are amply endowed
with multiple species of conifers
that are suitable for Christmas
trees.
You’re not likely to find the
symmetrical specimens of tree
farms or sales lots in towns, to
be sure.
But browsing the orderly
rows can’t fairly be called an
adventure.
Acquiring a tree in the forest,
These true firs are abundant
at the lower elevations that are
more likely to be accessible in
late fall.
They also have a classic
Christmas tree form, with nicely
spaced branches that offer plenty
of places for ornaments, lights
and tinsel.
Although grand fir and
white fir are separate species,
hybrids bearing traits of both are
common in the Blue Mountains,
the late Charles Grier Johnson
Jr., longtime forest ecologist in
the Blues for the Forest Service,
wrote in his definitive “Alpine
and Subalpine Vegetation of the
Wallowa, Seven Devils and Blue
Mountains.”
“Hybridization between these
two true firs ... make identifica-
tion difficult,” Johnson wrote.
But names, of course, are less
important than shape.
Subalpine fir
Full-grown subalpine firs are
easy to recognize from their
slender, dart-like shape. But in
juvenile form they sometimes
resemble grand firs.
A distinguishing character-
istic of the subalpine fir is its
needles. They grow at all angles
from the limb, rather than in flat,
orderly rows as a grand or white
fir’s do.
Although subalpine firs usu-
ally grow at higher elevations
than grand firs, the two species
occasionally mingle between
about 5,500 and 6,000 feet.
See, Tree/Page 2B
‘Born 30’ and still enjoying looking back
LUKE
OVGARD
CAUGHT OVGARD
M
y mom always told me I
was born 30.
If that’s true, my
hairline is doing remarkably well
for a 61-year-old, but perhaps it
explains why I get up to pee so
often during the night. Hmm ...
not important.
Actually important is one of my
family’s favorite home videos. The
clearly dated scene shows Young
Luke sitting in front of the bolster,
arranging something on its surface
out of view of the camera. Into
frame walks my younger brother,
Jake. Without delay, Jake begins
scattering the assortment of papers
I was apparently “playing” with.
Jake was maybe two or three at
the time, and as I realize what he’s
doing, I begin to voice my displea-
sure with a whiny timbre that I
mostly aged out of. Seconds later,
I can be heard complaining to my
mom “He messed up my business
papers!” Dad keeps the camera on
Jake for what, in retrospect, is the
comedic climax. Jake turns and
stares at the camera with a devious
half smile.
Business papers. SMH.
I have no recollection of what
I was playing, but I do know that
not much changed as I grew older.
My first job that gave me an
actual paycheck was refereeing
soccer, which Jake and I did
together. I brought in about $500
over the course of the season,
which might as well have been
$50,000. At 12 years old, there
were any number of things I
could’ve bought after that 2002
soccer season. My friends likely
would’ve bought clothes, one
of the newfangled iPods, video
games, a new ball or bat or helmet
or loads of snacks and treats. I
don’t know what Jake bought. I do
remember what I bought, though.
It’s more what you’d expect from
a suburban mom than a seventh
grader; I spent my money on a
FoodSaver vacuum packer. It cost
me about half of my first pay-
check. Yeah, that’s what kind of
kid I was.
Best of all, it still works to this
day, hundreds of pounds of fish
and nearly 20 years later.
Like that FoodSaver, I quickly
learned that I had the rare ability
to suck the air out of a room at
13-going-on-30. I always had
a good sense of humor, but if I
wasn’t a killjoy full-time, I at least
moonlighted.
Young Luke was responsible.
Young Luke was mature. Young
Luke could be counted on to
handle the fundraising for class
endeavors, to always have tissues
or allergy medicine or Tylenol
close at hand, to reassure parents
of the lack of criminal activity or
general delinquency at any party
where he was present — that is, if
Young Luke wasn’t talking to the
parents at said party. But honestly,
as I’ve aged, I realize Young Luke
missed out on his childhood in
many ways because he was never
really a kid.
Risk
Today, I live a rich life punctu-
ated by new experiences. Travel,
fishing, dining out, cooking,
reading and dating regularly but
unsuccessfully all serve as testa-
ments to my love of the untamed
and untested.I’m not alone in this,
either.
Millennials aren’t the first gen-
eration to chase new experiences
with almost religious fervor, but
they certainly are the first to share
those experiences so ubiquitously.
Everywhere you look is another
video series or podcast or social
media influencer sharing his or
her passion with the world. It’s
awesome for those who love to
consume this content, but it’s also
a bit dangerous. My generation
grew up at a time when the world
changed faster and more radically
in 20 years than at any other time
in history, and it has shaped us
into a unique subculture.
Among other things, this rapid
immersion into the global and the
digital left many desensitized to
the value of the very experiences
we record and curate for a virtual
audience on the regular.
I don’t think I ever would’ve
wistfully doubted the paths I took
in life or felt a sense of loss for
this experience or that if I’d never
known it existed. I’m not saying
ignorance is bliss and something
to aspire to, but we were given so
much unfiltered information so
quickly that I think it’s left those
like me, who were born 30, in this
weird introspective rut that the
average person might not have
until they are much, much older.
Honestly, the internet has been
far more boon than bane, and we
now have the collective of human
knowledge and experience at our
fingertips, but that’s what makes
it so overwhelming. The internet
has the potential to be a panacea
for all problems and difficulties it
doesn’t itself create, but it also has
the ability to leave us listless and
overwhelmed.
Something I wish I could’ve
told Young Luke so many years
ago is that you don’t need to
always make the most prudent,
well-reasoned choice to be suc-
cessful and happy. Sometimes,
action beats calculation. It’s OK
to spend your money and time
on something that isn’t wholly
practical. Who knows? Maybe
someday you’ll even have a plat-
form to write about that frivolity.
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brain @lukeovgard