New Mexico spruce begins journey to be 2019 Christmas tree
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The 2019 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree tree cutting ceremony took place today, just on the east side of Red River, New Mexico. This year’s Capitol Christmas tree is a 60 foot tall, 68 year -old blue spruce, which was selected from the Questa Ranger District of the Carson National Forest.
RED RIVER, N.M. >> A 60-foot blue spruce was cut down today during a ceremony in a forested canyon in northern New Mexico, starting a 2½-week journey that will take it to the U.S. Capitol to be this year’s Christmas tree.
A sawyer used a chain saw to sever the trunk, which one of two cranes then jerked several feet up in the air. Then both cranes swung the tree over to a flatbed trailer at the Carson National Forest site.
The tree will tour New Mexico before leaving on a trip scheduled to conclude Nov. 24 at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
According to the project website , stops are scheduled in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
Each year a national forest is selected to share a tree with the nation.
