Local News
Want a native, real 'Charlie Brown' tree?
Pallavi Agarwal | Highlands Today
Published: November 30, 2012
LAKE WALES - Those who are in the mood for a native Christmas tree now have the chance.Published: November 30, 2012
What's more, they can choose what they like growing in the wild and saw it off themselves.
The Florida Forest Service will continue its third annual sand pine Christmas tree sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 17-21 at Arbuckle Tract at Rucks Dairy Road and School Bus Road, in Polk County. The hours on Dec. 22 are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Lake Wales Ridge State Forest launched the program two years ago and opened it up to area residents.
Corey Walk, a forester with the Florida Forest Service, described Florida's version as a "Charlie Brown Christmas" tree.
"Some of them are really bushy up at the bottom," he said. "They are pretty distinct."
Those who want a tree can meet with a state forest representative any of those days and need to get a special use permit before they saw off a tree.
It costs $10 for a tree up to 15 feet in height.
Walk said in the first year, 2010, they sold 137 trees. Last year, 133 trees were sold.
The sand pines typically last for two to three weeks and can be set up like a regular Christmas tree.
Through the program, the forest service hopes to give residents something Floridian for Christmas.
It also puts into good use some of these trees, which tend to fall on the road when they mature or when they get swayed by high winds.
Walk has a fake tree but vouches for the sand pines.
"They are nice trees; they are bushy," he said. "They smell like Christmas trees."
For details, call the Florida Forest Service at (863) 635-7801.