Each year, the Christmas season at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is celebrated with the lighting of a specially selected tree that comes from one of the 50 states.
This year, the “People’s Tree” for 2025 comes from Nevada, and the 53-foot red fir from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest will officially be put on display on Dec. 2 during a ceremony that includes the speaker of the House and other dignitaries, who help throw the switch.
While the tree often is sourced from the American West, it's only come from Wyoming once.
That was in 2010, when the privilege of providing the tree — in this case a 67-foot Engelmann spruce from the Bridger-Teton National Forest — went to Wyoming, thanks to Sen. John Barrasso's pushing and prodding.
The memories and effort involved in selecting, transporting, decorating, and lighting the tree have not dimmed for those involved.
Barrasso, who took time to talk to Cowboy State Daily as he prepared to head overseas to spend Thanksgiving with Wyoming National Guard troops, had just started his U.S. Senate career when he learned Wyoming had never provided the Capitol’s holiday tree.
“I said we should do that. You don’t get it right away, but we were able to do it in 2010,” he said. “It was a great celebration from all around the state, and they got this beautiful tree from the Bridger-Teton forest and there was a lot of coverage and a lot of interest.”
Barrasso said before being transported to Washington, D.C., the tree toured all 23 counties in the state, and people signed the tree’s wrapping to send their holiday greetings to the Capitol.
The senator believes the tree helped boost recognition for Wyoming and brought benefits for the state’s tourism industry. He also said he has not seen a tree quite as nice since that year.
The 67-foot Engelmann spruce that became the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree in 2010 is harvested from the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. (University of Wyoming Extension via YouTube) 
The 67-foot Englemann spruce cut from the Bridger-Teton National Forest in 2010 to become the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree first toured all 23 Wyoming counties before it was trucked back East. (University of Wyoming Extension via YouTube)
‘Most Beautiful Ever’
“It was the most beautiful ever,” he said. “We need to go at it again to see if we can make it happen for Wyoming.”
Since 1970, U.S. National Forests have been providing the symbolic tree which represents the land and people from where it is cut. When the Bridger-Teton National Forest was tapped to go find a tree for 2010, the forest’s spokesperson Mary Cernicek was made the point person on the project.
“It’s definitely one of the highlights of my career,” Cernicek said. “It was truly the people’s tree. Wyoming got to send a pretty remarkable specimen that year.”
The Wyoming donation to the nation’s holiday season involved nearly a year of effort to find candidates for the right tree, select the tree, and then prepare the tree for a long trip across the nation and its starring holiday-season role in the seat of the nation’s government and power.
Cernicek said everyone who became involved in the effort were volunteers. The entire production involved selecting, preserving, cutting, transporting the tree and then celebrations in various Wyoming communities and in other states.
That was followed by the actual tree lighting ceremony that year on Dec. 7.
In addition to producing the tree, the state had an art contest to select an official painting to represent the tree and be hung in the U.S. Forest Service chief’s office for a year. Then it joined a collection of tree portraits in a permanent collection at the Yates Building in Washington, D.C., where the Forest Service is headquartered.
Once Barrasso announced in 2007 that Wyoming would provide the Capitol Christmas Tree for 2010, planning began.
Sen. John Barrasso with Daniel Sitter and his family from Lincoln County, Wyoming, in front of the Wyoming Capitol tree in 2010. (Courtesy Sen. John Barrasso) 
The tree also came with more than 5,000 ornaments made by people in Wyoming. (Courtesy Sen. John Barrasso)
The Process
Cernicek said in December 2009, word went out to Bridger-Teton staff to start their search for a potential winning tree.
“There were lots of trees submitted as candidate trees,” Cernicek said. “They needed to be 60 feet or higher and something that was full all the way around.”
In July, a representative from the Architect of the Capitol arrived in Wyoming to choose among the best candidates. After a couple of days reviewing the candidates, he chose the Engelmann spruce.
While the announcement about the tree was made, its exact location was kept a secret because Cernicek said they did not want people seeking a “memento” to ruin the tree before it was cut and transported.
One of the people who knew its location was Nick Orsillo, owner of Wyoming Landscape Maintenance in Jackson. His company was asked to care for and prep the tree from July through November.
“Our goal was pretty much to get the tree as healthy as we could to sustain the stress of being cut down and shuttled across the United States and then put up for a long period of time,” he said. “We basically watered it and used a couple of natural fertilizers to kind of get the tree stable.”
Orsillo said the tree was located in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in the Moran area and was not far from a turn-around for people hauling horse trailers. They were able to water it and care for it without leaving tracks or any visible impact on the ground around the tree.
In November, when the tree was cut down, Orsillo said he and his crew went up to help, but it was primarily a U.S. Forest Service effort.
Cernicek said the volunteer to haul the tree via his company’s semi was from Georgia.
Enough Ornaments?
As the least populous state in the nation, a Wall Street Journal article that fall lamented the state would not be able to produce the necessary 5,000 ornaments for the tree, Cernicek recalled.
An Oct. 23, 2010, article in the Jackson Hole News & Guide quoted the Wall Street Journal’s headline: “It Will Be a Sad Christmas If Wyoming Can’t Rustle Up Some Ornaments.” The article went on to quote Cernicek that the headline spurred residents and nearly 6,000 ornaments came in.
“Forever West was the theme of the ornaments,” Cernicek said. “Wyoming showed up, we were fine.”
Barrasso also remembered the story — and he still has home-made ornaments that hung from the tree.
“We had quite a collection of ornaments. Some people made them out of old license plates or got wood and put brands from their ranch on the wood,” he said. “I still have on display in my office in D.C. some of the ornaments from that tree.”
Cernicek said there were ornaments from other states that showed up as well. She remembers a box that arrived from Florida.
The tree also came with more than 5,000 ornaments made by people in Wyoming. (UPI via Alamy) 
Capitol Christmas tree with the Cheyenne All City Childrens Choir in front in 2010. (Courtesy Sen. John Barrasso) 
The nation's Christmas tree that lights up the U.S. Capitol ever year has come from Wyoming once. A 67-foot Engelmann spruce became the "People's Tree" in 2010, featuring thousands of LED lights and more than 5,000 ornaments from Wyomingites. (CSD File)
Tree Giveaway
When the tree was brought into Jackson, the community held a big celebration. Orsillo said he had a booth during that time and had obtained a thousand or so Douglas fir saplings to give out to people.
“Everyone loved it because it was like, yeah we lost one tree, but we are going to gain 1,000,” he said. “Not too long ago, someone came up to us and said, ‘Hey, my sapling is like 12-feet-tall,’ it was incredible.”
Once the tree was cut and local celebrations held, the road trip through the state and then the nation began. Cernicek said the tree was wrapped in the back of the flatbed with canvas banners that became a Christmas card to the nation. Sharpies were handed out to people all along the route and they signed messages for the Capitol.
At each community stop, volunteers had organized a celebration that may have included a band, remarks, and other festivities.
On Dec. 7, 2010, a cold and windy evening, the tree lighting ceremony took place with then Architect of the Capitol Steven Ayers as master of ceremonies and the U.S. Navy band on hand to play holiday tunes.
Barrasso, along with then Sen. Michael Enzi and Rep. Cynthia Lummis were on hand to celebrate the occasion. An “All-City Children’s Chorus” from Cheyenne sang “Go Tell It On The Mountain” and other holiday songs.
Barrasso said the Speaker of the House runs the ceremony for the tree. In 2010, that was Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
‘Gift’ Lights Up
A C-Span video of the event shows Pelosi thanking the “people of Wyoming for the gift of the Capitol Christmas Tree.”
“This is the highlight of our year and the fact that the tree is from Wyoming is just such a joy,” she said. “We are showcasing the beauty of the Equality State for the entire nation to see.”
While Pelosi governed the ceremony, it was a Fairview, Wyoming, sixth grader named Daniel Sitter who actually threw the switch to light the tree. Barrasso said Sitter was selected through a drawing that included all the names of the students who supplied ornaments for the tree.
Looking back on the event and the tree, Orsillo said it was an honor for him and his company to be involved.
“It was mind boggling even to this day that we were chosen to take care of the Capitol Christmas Tree. I’m so really proud of it,” he said. “I will be talking about it for the rest of my life to my grandkids. We still have people coming up to us and thanking us.”
Since Wyoming’s Engelmann spruce and its thousands of LED lights dazzled the west front lawn of the Capitol, 13 states — including California and Colorado twice — have provided the “People’s Tree.”
Barrasso said “the goal” is to have another Wyoming tree beautify the season at some point in the future.
“It has to come from one of the national forests and we have beautiful trees,” he said. “We have Medicine Bow National Forest, Bighorn National Forest, and Shoshone National Forest. We have magnificent trees here and we are in the process once again of saying, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can do this again for Wyoming.’”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
