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Christmas tree cutting on refuge opens Thanksgiving

Published 9:30 pm Monday, November 20, 2023

By Jake Dye Peninsula Clarion

Spruce trees are dusted with snow on Dec. 22, 2020, in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Soldotna, Alaska. Some areas of the refuge are open to harvest of holiday trees for non-commercial uses beginning Thanksgiving. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Spruce trees are dusted with snow on Dec. 22, 2020, in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Soldotna, Alaska. Some areas of the refuge are open to harvest of holiday trees for non-commercial uses beginning Thanksgiving. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Christmas tree cutting will be allowed in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge starting Thanksgiving Day, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.

Christmas tree cutting will be open until Christmas Day, free for personal use with a limit of one per household, a news release says.

Trees can be taken using hand tools from anywhere on the refuge “except within 150 feet of a road, lake, stream, trail, campground, or picnic area.”

They may not be taller than 20 feet. Those taking trees are requested to trim stumps as close to the ground as possible, the release says, “for aesthetic reasons.”

Tree cutting is also not permitted around Refuge Headquarters, the Visitor Center, or along Ski Hill Road.

For more information, reach the refuge office during business hours at 907-262-7021.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsulaclarion.

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