The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) delivered Idaho’s state Christmas tree to the steps of the Capitol on Monday morning.
This year’s tree, which is always a blue spruce, stands at approximately 45 feet tall and will be cut down to around 35 feet tall before it is decorated with 11,000 LED lights.
The Boise Police Department will provide traffic control, and the Idaho Department of Lands will cut the tree down. The tree will be held upright by a crane until it is laid down on ITD’s 50-foot transport truck and from there taken to the Capitol. The tree will then be lowered into a 9-foot-hole that is designed for this very occasion.
ITD has been safely transporting Idaho’s Christmas tree for more than 20 years.
“We are honored to be part of a tradition that brings so much joy to Idahoans. We look forward to it every year,” Foreman Travis Dodd said.
This year and next year will be especially short trips for ITD as the trees will be harvested from behind the Capitol within the 600 block of West State Street. The Capitol administration team keeps a list of all the eligible trees people around the area want to donate, and in August the state’s Christmas tree is selected from that list. Last year’s tree came from Harrison Boulevard.
If you are headed to the mountains to get your own Christmas tree, ITD wants to remind you to be prepared by having an emergency kit in your car that includes:
- Flashlight
- Jumper cables
- Kitty litter
- Chains
- Small shovel
- First aid kit
- Food and water
- Small sleeping bag or blanket, winter coat, gloves, waterproof boots
- Ice scraper
- Phone charger.
Before any winter travel, drivers should use 511.idaho.gov or the Idaho 511 app to check road conditions, cameras, and weather reports before heading out to cut down a Christmas tree.
