Where to cut your Christmas tree in Juneau

One of the first city-level snows of the season has ushered in the month of December. With it comes, for many families, the annual hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.

The City and Borough of Juneau and the Tongass National Forest allow each household to harvest one Christmas tree without a permit. Trees must be for personal use and cut as close to the ground as possible.

The city wood cutting area map shows the specific sections of municipal land where Christmas tree harvesting is allowed. The guidelines permit cutting in two main regions: off of north Glacier Highway near Bridget Cove and on North Douglas.

CBJ lands and resources manager Dan Bleidorn says these spots are areas where robust, forested city land is easily accessible from the road.

“Most of the area out the road, it’s basically all of the city road frontage, outside of some stream-side setbacks,” Bleidorn said. “It’s the same thing with Douglas. There is a large stretch of Douglas Highway that has some road frontage on it where city property is adjacent to the Douglas Highway.”

Harvesters should scatter leftover branches. Trees cannot be cut within fifty feet of hiking trails. Harvesting from muskeg areas — on either city or federal land — is not permitted, as regeneration is more difficult in those environments.

Those looking to harvest from Tongass National Forest should reference the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations on decreasing ecological damage. Tree seekers may not cut trees in developed Forest Service recreation sites, within 100 feet of a salmon stream or road, or within 330 feet of a bald eagle nest.

The national forest also prohibits cutting trees with stumps larger than seven inches in diameter, as well as cutting the tops off larger trees.

Lastly, harvesters should hem and haw before they saw.

“Do not cut a tree and then discard it for another one you may find more desirable,” the regulations say.