For over 50 years the USDA Forest Service’s Christmas gift to the nation, the US Capitol Christmas Tree, has inspired the imagination of millions. 

Standing elegantly at the base of Capitol Hill on the West Lawn the massive tree fondly referred to as the People’s Tree is harvested from a different forest every year. This year the Six Rivers National Forest in California had the honors of delivering the 84-foot fir they nicked named Sugar Bear.

Last night Sugar Bear’s tens of thousands of LED lights where ceremoniously lit in a decade’s long tradition by the winner of poetry contest about the tree. This year it was Michael Mavris, a fifth grader from Del Norte, California who flipped the switch. The ceremony also included comments from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and other members of the California delegation in Congress along with the new Chief of the Forest Service, Randy Moore. 

Harvested on Oct 24, Sugar Bear began its journey via a super elongated trailer bed all the way from northern California to Washington D.C. It took more than a year in planning, but the tree successfully completed it 3500-mile journey, stopping in more than 20 locations along the way. With no issues or complications to report, Sugar Bear’s journey is a positive case study of sorts for the effectiveness of private and government partnerships.

Adorned with thousands of handmade ornaments from the children of California, the awe-inspiring lighting was, indeed, a very fitting end to a long journey for tree named Sugar Bear.