Former Whitefish man shepherds Capitol tree
The freshly harvested Capitol Christmas Tree heads into Jackson, Wyo., with a convoy including Justin Kaber, a native of Whitefish who works for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Kaber accompanied the tree on a circuitous 5,000 mile journey to Washington, D.C., where the tree stands on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
The truck carrying the Capitol Christmas Tree — a 67-foot Engelmann spruce — stops in front of the Tetons in Wyoming.
Justin Kaber, a 1999 graduate of Whitefish High School, received the Forest Service assignment of a lifetime shepherding the 2010 Capitol Christmas Tree to Washington, D.C.
Kaber, an assistant fire management officer for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, said in a telephone interview that the tree arrived in the Capitol Nov. 29 after an amazing 5,000-mile journey ferrying the 67-foot Engelmann spruce from Wyoming.
The tree and chaperoning contingent made 31 stops along the way.
“We’ve seen thousands and thousands of people,” Kaber said. “It’s been amazing how excited people are to see it.”
The son of Claude and Debbie Kaber of Whitefish, he started his Forest Service career as a seasonal firefighter in Montana right after high school. He moved to the Bridger-Teton in Wyoming five years ago.
Normally, his position as an assistant fire management officer involves planning, training and working with prescribed fires. Kaber said he got tapped for Capitol Christmas Tree duty because the cutting and transport of a huge tree involves a lot of hands-on help.
“Being an AFMO, I supervise a crew and I have a bunch of manpower,” he said. “I was asked to help pack up the tree.”
The process started with Forest Service workers locating several candidate trees for inspection and final selection by the architect of the U.S. Capitol months ahead of time.
“He flew into Jackson in July,” Kaber said. “We drove him around and he chose the 67-foot Engelmann spruce.”
On Nov. 6, a large contingent of Forest Service employees and private contractors gathered with a chain saw and two cranes to harvest the towering tree. Kaber rounded up a crew of 20 to help.
“It was quite the production,” he said. “You can’t let the tree hit the ground at all.”
With one crane holding the tree upright and the other used to load it, the Engelmann spruce was cut and placed intact on the truck bed.
According to Kaber, his crew had to tie up each limb to compact the tree width of 33 feet down to the legal limit of 8 feet, 6 inches.
“That’s why it took so many people,” he said. “It took us two days to get it tied down.”
Kaber was the only one of his crew to make the trip to D.C. He was one of a contingent of 18 that included law enforcement officers, Forest Service people, a media coordinator and two truck drivers from Georgia who volunteered their services and truck.
The entire trip was paid for through private sources including many donations such as the gas provided by members of the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Because of national security concerns, the tree was guarded 24 hours a day by six officers with assistance from others including Kaber. A photo sent shows him taking a night shift guarding the tree.
The cross-country tour launched on Nov. 10 from Jackson, Wyo., where more than a thousand residents showed up to see them off. It was a similar reception at other areas.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Kaber said. “We had banners on both sides of the truck. We’ve got 10,000 to 15,000 signatures and a lot of messages on the banners.”
A log of the trip shows they spent 10 days touring Wyoming before heading across the country for nine more days through South Dakota, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland to Washington, D.C., on Nov. 29.
Kaber said the contingent was stopped about a block from the Capitol.
“They brought a bunch of drug dogs and explosive dogs,” he said.
Once cleared, the truck with the tree pulled up on the west front lawn. Kaber and others took the sides off the truck and helped the capitol grounds crew take off all the string holding the branches.
A crane lifted the tree and placed it in a five-foot hole.
“When it was level and straight, a truck pulled up and filled the hole with concrete,” Kaber said.
The grounds crew took charge of decorating the tree with 10,000 LED lights and 5,000 ornaments created by Wyoming residents. This year marks the first that Wyoming received the honor of providing the tree to grace the Capitol.
Montana has been selected twice. The state sent a 70-foot subalpine fir in 2008 and a 60-foot Engelmann spruce in 1989.
Kaber and the others in the contingent spent Nov. 30 delivering 70 companion trees from 6 to 24 feet in height to cabinet-level offices including the Secretary of Agriculture and the chief of the Forest Service.
“We have a reception with the chief on the seventh, the morning of the lighting, Kaber said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a student from Wyoming with officially light “The People’s Tree” at the Dec. 7 ceremony. Kaber and the others who chaperoned the tree have a place of honor at the lighting.
“We’ll be in the VIP area with the Congressional folks,” he said. “Then we go to a reception in the Capitol.”
Kaber has nine days to tour the capital and attend special events before helping drive vehicles back to Wyoming. He then leaves to drive to Montana to spend Christmas with his family.
He was impressed by his first visit to Washington, D.C.
“It’s amazing — all the history,” he said. “This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.