If you decide to head into the snowbound forest to cut your own Christmas tree, make sure your vehicle is prepared for the conditions, and bring along extra clothing, food and water. 

The Blue Mountains started to look like Christmas even before Halloween this year.

But the season of the jack-o’-lantern, of the overnight stomachache induced by too many fun-size bars, is too early to commence the search for the all-important item of holiday decor.

The Christmas tree.

The problem, of course, is preservation.

Cut your tree too early and you’ll struggle to keep it healthy enough that, come Christmas, the presents stacked beneath the branches aren’t buried in drifts of desiccated needles.

But with Thanksgiving looming, families across the region will be preparing for their annual trip to the mountains and the search for the tree that catches the eye from across a grove, its shape seemingly perfect in that instant, its limbs ideal to hold the ornaments that have become heirlooms.

Each of the three national forests in the Blue Mountains — Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur — sells Christmas tree permits for $5. There is a household limit of five permits.

Permits are also available from many businesses, or online at recreation.gov (which charges an additional $2.50 processing fee).

If you have a fourth grader in the house the permit is free. All fourth graders are eligible to receive a free permit by presenting a paper voucher printed from the Every Kid Outdoors website, https://everykidoutdoors.gov/

National forest permits are valid only for public land managed by the Forest Service.

Where to search, what to look for

Trees, of course, tend to grow in groves. And this is a typical trait for the grand and white firs that are a favorite Christmas tree in Northeastern Oregon forests.

When you come across a cluster of firs — especially if they’re slathered in snow — it can be difficult to distinguish between a specimen with gaping gaps in its limbs or a crooked trunk, and one that would be the crowning holiday adornment for your living room.

Lest anyone worry about contributing to deforestation by cutting a Christmas tree, quite the opposite is true, Forest Service officials say.

Removing a small-diameter tree can improve forest health by reducing the competition for sunlight, water and nutrients, allowing remaining trees to grow faster.

“In most parts of the forest, removing small trees reduces the risk of wildfire, helps other trees to grow larger and more fire-resistant, and creates open areas that provide forage for wildlife,” according to a press release from the Forest Service. “So don’t feel bad when you cut that little tree. You are supporting a healthy forest.”

National forests in the Blue Mountains are amply endowed with multiple species of conifers that are suitable for Christmas trees.

You’re not likely to find the symmetrical specimens of tree farms or sales lots in towns, to be sure.

But browsing the orderly rows can’t fairly be called an adventure.

Acquiring a tree in the forest, by contrast, often involves trudging through snow, over the hills and through the woods, with the likelihood of getting sticky sap on your hands and clothes.

If you do venture into the forest, prepare for slippery roads and chilly temperatures. Bring food, warm drinks and extra clothing, and make sure somebody knows where you’re going and when you expect to return.

Here’s a list of some of the common tree species in our region:

Grand fir/white fir

These true firs are abundant at the lower elevations that are more likely to be accessible in late fall.

They also have a classic Christmas tree form, with nicely spaced branches that offer plenty of places for ornaments, lights and tinsel.

Although grand fir and white fir are separate species, hybrids bearing traits of both are common in the Blue Mountains, the late Charles Grier Johnson Jr., longtime forest ecologist in the Blues for the Forest Service, wrote in his definitive “Alpine and Subalpine Vegetation of the Wallowa, Seven Devils and Blue Mountains.”

“Hybridization between these two true firs … make identification difficult,” Johnson wrote.

But names, of course, are less important than shape.

Subalpine fir

Full-grown subalpine firs are easy to recognize from their slender, dart-like shape. But in juvenile form they sometimes resemble grand firs.

A distinguishing characteristic of the subalpine fir is its needles. They grow at all angles from the limb, rather than in flat, orderly rows as a grand or white fir’s do.

Although subalpine firs usually grow at higher elevations than grand firs, the two species occasionally mingle between about 5,500 and 6,000 feet.

Douglas-fir

Not a true fir — hence the hyphen — these conifers have more in common with hemlocks.

Although Douglas-fir is a favorite Christmas tree species in the Cascades and Coast Range, the Rocky Mountain variety that grow in our forests typically aren’t as graceful in appearance as grand or white firs.

Lodgepole pine

Lodgepole pines are easy to find, but lodgepole pines that make good Christmas trees are not.

Lodgepoles of the right height tend to be a bit sparse of limb and a bit unkempt in appearance, as though they had slept in an alley.

Lodgepoles are the only pines native to Oregon whose needle bundles contain two needles (ponderosa pines have three needles per bundle, white and whitebark pines five).

Ponderosa pine

Like lodgepoles, ponderosa pines are plentiful in many places, especially at lower elevations. But their long needles aren’t well-suited for ornament placement, and they lack the layered limbs that distinguish firs.

Engelmann spruce

A person might mistake a spruce for a fir, but there’s an easy way to tell which is which: grab a limb.

If you think you just poked a porcupine, you just touched a spruce.

Spruce needles are stiff and have prickly edges, unlike the softer, more finger-friendly firs.

Spruce trees usually grow in wet areas, and often are found in groves near streams.

Tree-cutting guidelines

There are several rules common to all three national forests in the Blue Mountains, including:

• Cut your tree at least 50 feet away from the road.

• Clean up any trimmings or limbs.

• Leave stumps no higher than 10 inches

• Remove any green limbs left that remain on the stump. You can keep these for decorations.

• Do not cut in active timber sales or areas that have been planted with new trees.

• Do not cut on private land, wilderness areas, designated campgrounds, or existing tree plantations.

• Do not cut trees in the following areas: Baker City Watershed, Anthony Lakes Campground or Ski Area, Starkey Experimental Forest, La Grande Watershed, Hurricane Creek, and Lostine drainages.

• Do not cut trees in posted old growth areas or within 1/4 mile of wild and scenic corridors.

• Christmas tree cutting within sight of a state highway is prohibited.

• Place the tag on your tree immediately after cutting.

There are also restrictions specific to individual national forests.

Wallowa-Whitman

• The maximum tree height is 15 feet and stump diameter is 6 inches.

• Do not cut trees in the following areas: Baker City Watershed, Anthony Lakes Campground or Ski Area, Starkey Experimental Forest, La Grande Watershed, Hurricane Creek and Lostine drainages.

Umatilla

• The maximum height of tree to be cut is 14 feet tall.

• Do not cut trees within 200 feet of Bluewood or Spout Springs Ski Areas, summer home sites, Tollgate Work Center, or Forest Service guard stations.

• Christmas tree cutting in the Tollgate area on the Walla Walla Ranger District can be challenging after Dec. 1, when most forest roads close for the winter. After Dec. 1, snowmobiling or snowshoeing will be your only access onto most roads off Highway 204.

• Christmas tree cutting on the Pomeroy Ranger District is prohibited on Park and Cook Ridges, and in the Lick Creek area, including Sheep Creek, Cabin, Capehorn and Mud Springs ridges. You may encounter road closures during logging operations.

Malheur

• Removal of transplants from riparian (springs, creeks, wet areas), campgrounds, wilderness, scenic, research, and botanical areas is prohibited. Avoid old growth areas as well.

• Only cut trees that are less than 12 feet in height.

• Do not cut a tree unless there is another tree within 20 feet to maintain disbursement of trees and optimum growth for the future.

• Cutting trees within 150 feet of Highway 26, County Road 62, or Forest Road 16, is prohibited.

Safety tips back at home

Once you get home, taking proper care of your tree will keep it green longer and reduce the risk of fire.

• Cut and water your tree: Once you get your tree home, cut a half an inch off the stump to help with water uptake, and make sure to water your tree daily. Well-watered trees keep their scent longer.

• Get the right tree stand: Use a sturdy tree stand that holds at least 1 gallon of water. Make sure you refill the container daily, as an average tree may consume 1 to 4 quarts of water daily.

• Place your tree away from heat sources: Do not place your Christmas tree within 3 feet of any heat source, like a radiator. Live tree fires outnumber artificial tree fires by 3-1, and they cause 20 times more injuries, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

• Check electric lights and connections: Lights with frayed or cracked wires or broken sockets should be thrown away and not repaired. Never use open flames, like a lighted candle, on or near Christmas trees, and always turn off tree lights when leaving the house or going to bed.

Baker City

Bi Mart

D&B Supply

York’s

The Gold Post, Sumpter

Burnt River Market, Unity

Hitchin’ Post Grocery, Richland

Halfway Market, Halfway

Wallowa Food City, Wallowa

Dollar Stretcher, Enterprise

Sports Corral, Joseph

La Grande

Bi Mart

Miller’s Home Center

Hometown Hardware, Union

Island City Market & Deli, Island City

Pendleton

D&B Supply

Bi Mart

Southgate Minimart

Hermiston

Smitty’s Ace Supply

Ace Hardware

Pilot Rock

Mentzer & Elliott

J&D’s Foodmart

Heppner Mobil, Heppner

Alpine Outpost, Tollgate

Zip Zone II, Milton-Freewater

Elgin Food Town, Elgin

Athena Convenience, Athena

Rhode’s Supply, Ukiah

Ace Hardware, Boardman