Students branch out from studies to help keep U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree alive

This November, when the President steps out on Pennsylvania Avenue and looks toward the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, he's going to see a Christmas tree from the Tongass National Forest.

Better yet, Wrangell High School students were tasked with keeping it alive.

Members of the T3 program (Teaching Through Technology), a federally funded teaching nonprofit, teamed up with a local inventor to make sure the tree continues to absorb water on its nearly month-long journey from Wrangell to Washington.

To ensure the tree's survival, the U.S. Forest Service took an unprecedented approach to the tree's harvest. They dug up the root wad along with the tree ("Christmas Vacation" style) and will transport it across the country with the root system intact.

Crews dug up the 80-foot-tall spruce tree on Oct. 19 from an undisclosed location on Zarembo Island. The tree will be unveiled Saturday in downtown Wrangell.

"Once you cut the stump," Tom Roland, a Forest Service silviculturist said, "the tree only consumes water for one or two weeks."

That's alright when the tree comes from West Virginia - as last year's tree did. But when the Capitol Christmas Tree comes from Alaska, keeping the tree alive for just one week isn't going to cut it.

So, the Forest Service opted for the root wad excavation instead of cutting the trunk like you would for a traditional Christmas tree. Keeping the roots attached is one thing; maintaining the absorption of water is another.

Officials reached out to Wrangell resident and inventor Brian Ashton. They hoped he could adapt his moist air incubation technology (originally designed for salmon hatchery incubation) to the Christmas tree project.

Ashton knew the task was attainable, but he also knew he didn't have the time. So, he called on the people who installed live cameras at the Anan Wildlife Observatory this summer; the same people who conducted the Forest Service's drone-mapping projects; the same people who added Wrangell to Google Maps street view; and same the people who would now be responsible for keeping the Capitol Christmas Tree alive: a group Wrangell High School students in the T3 alliance.

Since it was announced that the tree would come from the Wrangell district of the Tongass, the T3 students have been working with Ashton to apply his technology. The eight students formed a group chat, dubbed "Christmas Tree Life Support," and went to work. They even enlisted the help of fellow student Kyan Stead to weld a nearly six-foot-long drip pan that helps recycle the tree's water.

Anika Herman, a senior and member of the T3 program, explained the technology underpinning the life support system.

"We're going to have two pumps," Herman said, "and they come out of these four, 55-gallon barrels that are going to be all tied together. There's going to be a pump with a UV filter, a 25-micron filter and then a five-micron filter."

I - a history major who avoids science classrooms like the plague - asked what needed to be filtered out.

"Tree dirt," Herman said. "But there's also a motor in there, and it's very tiny. If anything more than five microns passes through it, it's going to break."

Herman explained that after passing through the filtration system, the water cycles back to the multiple misters that distribute water to the tree's roots. The entire root wad and misting system is enclosed by a large white tarp to maximize the amount of water that gets recycled.

This is one of the issues the team is dealing with: The tree, due to its vast size, absorbs a lot of water. This won't be a problem during its stay in Wrangell, nor during the two-week cross-country tour on its 82-foot trailer, but for the days the tree is on the barge, there will be no one to refill its water supply.

"It's the barge that we're really worried about," Herman said. "There's a lot of things that could go wrong there."

However, she said they might have found a solution. If they can add nutrients to the water - nutrients that don't get filtered out in the filtration system, of course - then they could extend the tree's lifespan and make sure it's still alive by the time Forest Service officials can refill its water supply after the barge docks in Seattle.

Back in August, Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was in town for the reopening of the Anan Bay Cabin. Unsurprisingly, the T3 kids were apart of that project as well, and Alaska's senior senator decided to give them a bit of a surprise when she heard about their Christmas tree efforts.

Anika Herman gives a great retelling.

"Lisa Murkowski said, 'If you guys do this, I'm inviting you all to the tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C. - and to the afterparty too!' We were all so excited. We're working as hard as we can because we all want to go."

Murkowski partnered with Alaska Airlines to cover the travel expenses. Alaska T3 coordinator Brian Reggiani said U.S. Department of Education and Forest Service funding is covering the costs of the students' hotels and other expenses.

The tree - with its attached life-support system - will be unveiled in front of the Nolan Center during the weekend of festivities Friday through Sunday, Oct. 25-27. Borough Manger Mason Villarma has described the weekend as "a fall Fourth of July," and there will be tree-themed festivities for all three days.

Shops will remain open late on Friday to encourage downtown shopping; hot drinks and cookies will also be served. Saturday will be filled with events, starting with the chamber of commerce's annual pumpkin patch, and followed by a kids carnival and baked goods for purchase from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Nolan Center.

The Wrangell Cooperative Association will bless the tree at 1:30 p.m., followed by live music from 2 to 4 p.m.

The evening will end with a Halloween bash at Rayme's Bar.

The newest addition to the weekend programming is the T3 students staffing a booth from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Nolan Center to show their work. Operation Christmas Tree Life Support will be on full display.

Before the tree arrives in Seattle, just one other Alaska community will be able to see it. On the evening of Oct. 30, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree - along with its life-support system - will be shown off for a couple hours in Ketchikan.