Christmas tree cutting on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge opens on Thanksgiving Day, November 27.
Ranger Leah Eskelin outlined where tree cutting is permitted.
Eskelin: “The general idea is, trees can be taken anywhere on the refuge using hand tools, that’s a big thing to sort of take into consideration, so not chainsaws but hand tools except within a 150 feet of roads, lake, stream, trail, campground or picnic area. The idea is we don’t want to cut out all the trees that are around those areas of recreation, so 150 feet from those kinds of things.”
The refuge also requests that after cutting any trees, individuals trim the stumps as close to the ground as possible which Eskelin said is for a couple of reasons.
Eskelin: “Both for aesthetic reasons so that is looks nice and beautiful while people are recreating but also there is a safety concern too. If you leave a lot of stumps that will soon hopefully get covered up with a lot of snow and people go out and snowshoe and things like that, there’s a potential for causing a stumbling hazard, so if you cut it nice and close to the ground the ground cover will grow up around that area really quickly and we don’t end up with stumps everywhere.”
Anyone with additional questions about Christmas tree cutting on the refuge may call Kenai National Wildlife Refuge headquarters at 262-7021 between regular business hours.
For information about cutting trees on other parts of the Kenai Peninsula, click here to view in-depth guidelines from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.