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In much of the United States, selecting a Christmas tree is mostly a practical affair: find a pop-up vendor in a parking lot.

But for many Wyoming families, their seasonal harvest is an outdoor endeavor. 

In a state that’s half public land, it’s easy to do. Parts of eight national forests extend into the Equality State, and there are also eight Bureau of Land Management field offices spread across Wyoming. All offer Christmas tree permits. They’re inexpensive, ranging from $1 on BLM land to $15 on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. 

Ada Brennan, 2, shuffles over frozen slopes up to her sister, Frances, at the base of a Douglas fir that was being sawed down for use as a Christmas tree. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Near dusk on a Monday in early December, Ada Brennan, 2, and her sister, Frances, 4, set out into the Shoshone National Forest with their tante, Jordan Schreiber, to select a Christmas tree.

Pickings were slim near a well-used trailhead a short drive from the nearest town. Trees in easy reach for a toddler were either too short, too tall or too mangled. 

A piñata-topped Christmas tree adorned with ornaments from the 1980s and ’90s lived its life in the Shoshone National Forest before being trucked into Lander. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Eventually, the party eyed a symmetrical-enough fir that had escaped prior Christmas tree hunters’ saw blades, perhaps because it sprouted along a pretty steep slope. 

Not long later, the conifer was on the ground and being dragged down a trail on its way to a Lander living room.

Mike Koshmrl reports on Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent nearly a decade covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild places and creatures for the Jackson...

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  1. This brings back so many memories. My oldest was just this age (4) when she put on cross country skis and joined us on our annual tree hunt. This year I bought my tree for the first time in my life (I’m now in Mesa and giant cactus just don’t cut it). Missing the hills of Wyoming (and the snow) this time of year!

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