...AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM MST
FRIDAY...
* WHAT...An extended period of stagnant air, with light winds
and little vertical mixing.
* WHERE...Portions of southwest and west central Idaho and
northeast and southeast Oregon.
* WHEN...Until 1 PM MST Friday.
* IMPACTS...Periods of air stagnation can lead to the buildup of
pollutants near the surface.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
An Air Stagnation Advisory concerns itself with meteorological
conditions only. For more information on air pollution in Idaho,
visit website www.deq.idaho.gov. For Oregon, visit website
www.oregon.gov/deq.
If possible, reduce or eliminate activities that contribute to
air pollution, such as outdoor burning, and the use of
residential wood burning devices. Reduce vehicle trips and
vehicle idling as much as possible.
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Christmas tree shoppers browse the selection at Jordan’s Garden Center in Boise on Wednesday.
ABOVE: Christmas tree shoppers browse the selection at Jordan’s Garden Center in Boise on Dec. 14. BELOW: Christmas trees at Jordan’s Garden Center in Boise.
ABOVE: Christmas tree shoppers browse the selection at Jordan’s Garden Center in Boise on Dec. 14. BELOW: Christmas trees at Jordan’s Garden Center in Boise.
Last year, Christmas trees were in high demand while the supply was low. But this year, while the Christmas tree shortage is starting to taper off, prices are still climbing according to Jordan Risch, owner of Jordan’s Garden Center and Seasonal Market.
Risch has been selling Christmas trees for 25 years and said farmers don’t usually fertilize the trees — they plant them on hillsides and let nature do the rest — which could be part of the reason Christmas trees have doubled in price over the past 10 years, as wildfires and droughts have affected supply.
“They’re really at the mercy of Mother Nature,” he said.
Trees usually take 8-15 years to grow before they are cut down to be put in homes over the holidays, Risch said. Right now, he said, the average tree goes for $50 to $120, depending on the size and quality. That average is around $20 more than his estimation last year. So far, he’s sold about 1,600-1,800 trees.
To Risch, who sold his first Christmas tree at 19, there’s nothing quite like a real tree.
“It’s the nostalgia. It’s the spirit of the season,” Risch said. “There is just no true substitution for having a real tree in your house and having that smell and everything else.”
Barry Medicine Elk, owner of Broadway Christmas Trees, has been selling trees for 18 years.
“Ninety-five percent of the nation’s Christmas trees come from Oregon,” Medicine Elk said.
Medicine Elk estimates he’s sold around 1,650 trees this year and is anticipating selling 300 more. Last year he sold 2,200 — he said the bad economy is why prices are going up and he’s selling less.
“If you think about it, Christmas trees are luxury items,” Medicine Elk said. “I thought they were expensive last year, then they went up this year, and we’re not going to sell as many trees as we did last year.”
This year, the trees on Broadway are going for about $75 each, depending on the size and quality of the tree.
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“I like to see families come out,” Medicine Elk said.
Live Christmas trees, Risch said, bring homes to life during the holiday season.
“It adds a tangible feeling in the air,” Risch said. “You can feel the presence of a live tree in both the humidity, the smell, the earthiness of it. The tree itself has a presence of its own.”
Like Medicine Elk, Risch said he typically sees a rush of people buying Christmas trees the weekend after Thanksgiving. That rush tapers off as Dec. 25 looms closer, but Risch said he has sold some trees after Christmas — usually for families who were out of town during the holidays, or blended families who don’t have everyone home on Christmas day. Because Risch likes to have trees available for people who purchase trees on Christmas Eve or after Christmas, he often has leftovers, which he donates to the Zoo Boise.
“They appreciate it (trees) the same way we do,” General Curator at Zoo Boise, Harry Peachey, said of the zoo animals.
The trees add to the animals’ quality of life, Peachey said. Some are enriched by the trees’ smell, and some simply play with them.
Peachey is anticipating a good laugh when they give some trees to Akasha, a Amur tiger that’s been at the zoo less than a year. Akasha has a habit of playing hide and seek when staff comes to her yard for a training session.
“My thought is that this year we’ll take the stack of Christmas trees and put those in her yard and see what she does with it,” Peachey said. “She’s quite a personality. She’s been a lot of fun since she got here ... she’ll be downright silly.”
At the moment, Akasha uses a log in the yard to play hide and seek with staff at the zoo, peeking up behind it so only her eyes and ears are visible.
Peachey plans on giving some trees to other animals including lions and dogs at the zoo. He is cautious of giving trees to animals that might eat them, as the sap can be an issue for some animals. The trees are removed once they start falling apart, but tend to last a little while during the cold weather. The zoo doesn’t usually take trees from the general public to avoid exposing animals to trees that are dyed or have been treated with fire-resistant chemicals.
