‘Companion’ Christmas trees from Tongass

Aaron Steuerwald and Steve Hollis found the best available Shore Pine were on the Shoal Cove road system on Revillagigedo island in Southeast Alaska. (USFS photo)
This year’s National Christmas Tree is a 74-foot spruce from Alaska’s Chugach National Forest. The tree is traveling across the U.S. on its way to Washington, D.C., and as of Sunday, was in Indiana.
In addition to the spruce, which will be placed on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol, seven smaller “companion” tr