Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Hermiston Herald and is part of a content-sharing partnership between Northeast Oregon Now and the Hermiston Herald.
By John Tillman/Hermiston Herald
Christmas trees at local lots cost a little more this year, and sales are up for permits to cut Christmas trees on the Umatilla National Forest.
The Hermiston Kiwanis Club operates its tree lot in the parking lot of the Hermiston Community Center, 415 S. Highway 395. Jeff Kelso, immediate past president of the Kiwanis Club, and Brandon Artz were working the tree lot the afternoon of Dec. 6.
The club received 400 trees this year, Kelso said. He described business as “steady,” despite the snow. He did not yet have a total tree sold count. The club had the usual selection of Douglas, noble, grands and Nordmann firs.
Kelso said business has been good so far this year. The Kiwanis crew, he said, sold 70 trees in one shift on Dec. 6.
“That was pretty amazing,” Kelso said.
He said prices are up this year about $5 more a tree to offset the cost for buying the trees. Prices range from $40 to $130 per tree. Nordmann firs 8-9 feet tall sell for $130. Douglas firs at $40-$50 are the economy tree.
“A lot of people really like them,” Kelso said.
“What we sell here goes back to what the Kiwanis does for the community,” said Artz, Kiwanis board member and Hermiston Parks and Recreation director. “Proceeds support Kiwanis Kids’ Day and various activities and scholarships. When you buy a tree here, it goes right back into the community.”
The Umatilla National Forest sold more Christmas tree permits by Monday, Dec. 5, than it had for the entire season last year.
The sales increased when the U.S. Forest Service began selling permits online through recreation.gov in October 2020, according to Darcy Weseman, Umatilla National Forest public affairs officer.
“The switch to modernized shopping from home allows people to get a permit online, for added convenience as an alternative to in-person transactions,” she said.
The Umatilla National Forest in 2021 sold 2,051 permits. As of Dec. 5, it sold 2,374.
Still, that’s down from 2020, when there were 4,370 sales in the first year the Forest Service added the option of online permit purchases.
Permit sales in 2019 and 2018 were practically identical, at 3,080 and 3,083 sales.
Hermiston Herald editor Erick Peterson contributed to this story.
