“It’s the best preserved tree, very green, very moist--and it’s as freshly a cut tree as I have seen.”

     Michael Burchard, the forest land surveyor on the Pike and San Isabel National Forests, based in Pueblo, Colo., was talking about the 2000 Capitol Holiday Tree, which is now lit and ready for viewing on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol that faces the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

     This year’s tree, which came from Woodland Park, Colo., on the Pike and San Isabel NFs, is a 77-year-old, 10,435-lb., 65-foot-tall Colorado Blue Spruce, noted Robby Cox, a forestry technician on the Pike and San Isabel NFs.

     This Capitol Holiday Tree has a narrow pyramidal shape and a cone-shaped crown, according to Jeff Hovermale, a forestry technician on the Pike and San Isabel NFs. “As Colorado Blue Spruces become older,” he pointed out, “they often take on a more irregular appearance.”

"Once we remove the shrink wrap and get the tree set up, then everyone else can appreciate how special we feel this tree is," affirms FS’s Chris Nacarrato, a member of the Pike Hot Shot Crew, whose mission is fighting wildfires. But Nacarrato’s mission on this occasion is to help deliver this year’s Capitol Holiday Tree to the Nation’s Capital. The Colorado Blue Spruce, which came from the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in Colorado, represents the 37th Capitol Holiday Tree to grace the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. --Photo by Steve Tapia

     Steve Segin, an archaeologist on the Pike and San Isabel NFs, who served as the public affairs officer for this year’s Capitol Holiday Tree project, added that each year one of this country’s 155 national forests provides the Capitol Holiday Tree.

     According to Beverly Carroll, an FS program analyst and national coordinator for the Capitol Holiday Tree, this is the 37^th Capitol Holiday Tree. “Of those, 31 have been donated to Congress by the Forest Service, with the support of state and local communities, for use as the Capitol Tree,” she said.

     Tim Grantham, a lands forester on the Pike and San Isabel NFs, said, “We were able to use a climate-controlled environment to preserve the tree from such elements as the wind, during the tree’s journey on an extended trailer. Plus, we set up an irrigation watering system to preserve the tree further.”

     He noted that the secret was “shrink wrap.” “We heat-bonded the seams of the shrink wrap, which created a seamless structure--and that shrink wrap completely encased the tree,” Grantham said.

FS’s Jeff Hovermale (center) joins in a celebratory dance, performed by the Pueblo Friendship Pow Wow Council from Pueblo, Colo. This activity took place in Walsenburg, Colo.--one of the many celebration stops made by this year’s Capitol Holiday Tree, along its journey to the Nation’s Capital. --Photo by Anne Uyttenhove

     “This is the first time that the Forest Service has ever used this shrink wrap process in the delivery of the Capitol Tree.”

     According to Bill Nelson, a district ranger on the Pike and San Isabel NFs, serving as the co-chairman of the Capitol Holiday Tree project, the Capitol Holiday Tree arrived in Washington, DC, on December 4. He added that the tree’s journey and related activities were funded through sponsors and donations.

     Steve Tapia, a wildlife biologist on the Pike and San Isabel NFs, also noted that this year’s tree is decorated with over 4,000 ornaments made by children throughout the state of Colorado. “One youngster in particular, Elusha Young, was an orphan from Russia, and was adopted by a family in Woodland Park,” Tapia said. “He won an ornament contest based on the design of his creation--and it now hangs on the tree.”

     Carroll pointed out that the Capitol Holiday Tree--also called the “People’s Tree”--is not to be confused with the National Christmas Tree, which is a tree growing on the Ellipse behind the White House.

     The 2000 Capitol Holiday Tree, which was formally lit on December 12, will be lit each evening throughout the December holiday season.

--Maria Beltran

     Since time immemorial songwriters have been penning tunes about people on the rebound from interpersonal relationships. And the term “rebound” might be the way to describe the final tally of U.S. agricultural exports for FY 2000, as they hit nearly $51 billion, up 3.5 percent from the over $49 billion figure for FY 1999.

     Those statistics were compiled by agricultural economists from the Economic Research Service, and are contained in ERS’s monthly report titled “U.S. Agricultural Trade Update,” dated November 29.

     According to Carol Whitton, leader of ERS’s Trade Data and Analysis Team, FY 2000 saw gains in exports of U.S. cotton and soybeans. “But the year also saw offsetting declines in exports of U.S. corn, wheat, rice, and tobacco,” she advised.

     She noted that world cotton consumption outpaced production, thereby boosting U.S. exports of cotton. “U.S. markets in Turkey, Southeast Asia, and Latin America accounted for most of the gains,” Whitton said. Likewise, the volume of soybeans shipped abroad was up 13 percent, or three million tons, from 1999, largely on sales to China.

     ERS agricultural economist Andy Jerardo explained that exports of U.S. corn declined the most among bulk commodities, compared to 1999 levels, as shipments to Mexico and Asia plunged. “China had a surge in its own exports of corn, and that accounted for much of the reduced U.S. sales of corn to Asia,” he pointed out. Shipments of U.S. wheat to Russia, Asia, and South America were all significantly lower in 2000.

     Whitton noted that the top three export markets for U.S. agricultural products during FY 2000 were Japan, Canada, and Mexico. “Together, they accounted for $23.2 billion--or 46 percent--of this country’s total agricultural export earnings in 2000,” she affirmed. The next largest blocks of U.S. agricultural exports went to East Asian markets--specifically, South Korea, Taiwan, and China--at a level of $7.3 billion. The 15 countries of the European Union constituted the third largest block of countries receiving U.S. agricultural exports, at a level of $6.4 billion.

     Jerardo said that the U.S. agricultural trade surplus at the end of FY 2000 stood at $12 billion, which was $175 million more than at the end of FY 1999. “The largest U.S. agricultural imports came from Canada and Mexico,” he noted, “and those two countries accounted for 35 percent of all U.S. agricultural imports.”

     “Fruits and vegetables constituted the biggest amount of agricultural imports to the U.S. during FY 2000,” he added, “and that continues a historical trend.”

--Ron Hall

     A multi-panel exhibition about the North American prairie--from its unique mix of flora and fauna to its huge agricultural output--opened on November 18 at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The exhibit itself, as well as the four farmers spotlighted in the exhibit, all received financial assistance from USDA.

     The exhibit, titled “Listening to the Prairie: Farming in Nature’s Image,” depicts the evolution of that region known as the North American prairie, which refers not only to a geographic region but also to the type of grassland natural to that region. Prairie regions are classified as tallgrass--which is taller than seven feet--shortgrass--which is less than six inches tall--and mixed grass. Prairies are not fixed regions, but shift over time and in reaction to the weather.

     The Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the Forest Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service co-funded the exhibit, along with the Kellogg Foundation. Jill Auburn, CSREES’s national program leader for sustainable agriculture research and education and director of CSREES’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, served as a technical advisor to the museum exhibit team. But in addition, the four farmers and ranchers featured by name in the exhibit--hailing from Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota--all received SARE grants.

     “With help, in part, from the SARE grants,” she noted, “those producers have diversified their crops and livestock to minimize crop pests and weather market fluctuations, and reduced their reliance on chemical pesticides--so they now sell their crops directly to their customers for more premium prices.”

"The four farmers and ranchers depicted by name in these panels each received SARE grants to help them diversify their crops and livestock, try alternative marketing strategies, and minimize crop pests," notes CSREES’s Jill Auburn (right), as she and Ann Carey, NRCS senior policy analyst for global natural resources issues, examine part of the "Listening to the Prairie: Farming in Nature’s Image" exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. --Photo by Ken Hammond

     “Those four progressive prairie farming and ranching families, featured in the museum exhibit, have found innovative ways to manage their farms and ranches and earn profits in ways that enhance the fragile ecosystem and in tune with the needs of their communities.”

     Auburn added that, as part of their farm management efforts, they also safeguard drinking water, preserve streams and rivers, and offer havens for wildlife and native plants through such practices as rotating crops, planting buffer strips around streams, and using cover crops to lessen erosion.

     Among other grants, SARE offers funding directly to farmers and ranchers to run on-site research and demonstration experiments. Producer grants typically run between $500 and $15,000.

     Auburn noted that prairie farmers and ranchers make up a large part of the breadbasket that supplies much of the U.S.--and the world--with commodities like corn, soybeans, wheat, and livestock. “One American farmer feeds 143 people,” she affirmed.

     The exhibition explores the human history of the grasslands, starting from the first crops grown on the prairie 4,000 years ago. It also features an interactive shopping cart filled with everyday products--including hand lotions, household cleaners, shoe polish, and paint brushes--that contain ingredients from the prairie.

     NRCS range management specialist Dennis Thompson added that the prairie remains home to many one-of-a-kind plants and animals, which are detailed in the exhibition. “Many waterfowl depend on prairie grasslands for breeding and wintering during migration,” he explained. “Plus, milkweed and other native prairie flowers attract monarch butterflies--which is one of only a few butterflies to migrate thousands of miles.”

     “Prairie grass that once fed bison is now grown as livestock forage and to make renewable fuels,” he said. “Native prairie grasses don’t have to be planted every year, they require little or no fertilizer, and they are tolerant of drought.”

     Auburn noted that the “Listening to the Prairie: Farming in Nature’s Image” exhibit is scheduled to run through March 2001 and will then travel to 20 libraries across the country. 

--Valerie Berton