Native Christmas tree dealer giving away “green” Christmas trees to combat vets

Map to Colorado Native Christmas Trees

Contact: Jeff Thomas, 303-604-1020, jthomas@neodial.com

Photos available on request Tony Smith, 970-275-4852, tony@rdsenvironmental.com

Tony Smith believes Coloradans should celebrate Christmas green – with a native tree that comes from our own forests. This year, he's making green easier for our state's veterans, especially those who have served in the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“When you think of what those families have been through for our country, it's really the least you can do,” said Smith, who operates Colorado Native Christmas Trees, located 200 yards north of the intersection of 75^th and Valmont streets in Boulder.

Smith is giving away trees eight feet and under to returning veterans, or their families, who have served or are serving in those current campaigns. He is also offering a 50 percent discount to all veterans, regardless of where or when they served.

Smith, who has owned the business for 23 years but has been involved for more than three decades in selling native trees, has perhaps the widest selection available at a retail lot. Species include white, sub-alpine and Douglas fir, as well as lodgepole pine. The trees are available in a wide selection of sizes, and even shapes, including small “Charlie Brown” trees he regularly sets aside for people seeking a tree at minimal cost.

Smith is a great believer in Christmas, featuring reindeer and hot cocoa at his lots, but he is also a great believer in utilizing products that assist in the management of our Colorado forests. These trees not only help with forest restoration costs, but also cut down on the carbon footprint of buying a holiday tree from outside the state.

“Choosing native holiday trees and other Colorado forest products helps promote sound forest management by reducing the cost forest restoration and wildlife mitigation efforts,” said Tim Reader, a utilization and marketing forester with the Colorado State Forest Service. Because they aren’t cut months in advance, Colorado’s holiday trees often are fresher than other trees, so they generally will retain their needles until well after the holidays,” Reader added.

Colorado Forest Products ^TM is a consumer outreach program of the Colorado State Forest Service, an outreach agency of the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. CFP helps local forestry-based businesses market products derived from restoration and wildfire reduction projects in Colorado’s forests, including native Christmas trees.

For non-veterans, and those outside the Boulder County area, CFP's Web site, www.coloradoforestproducts.org, features interactive maps that can guide you to the closest permit areas or retail locations. The site also includes information on a wide range of forest products — from firewood to construction materials – and information about participating in a native tree decoration contest with the Denver Post featuring $100 first prize money.

###