KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri governor needs your help. Mike Parson is on a statewide search for a Christmas tree to set outside the governor’s mansion this holiday season.
Every year the Missouri Department of Conservation asks people to nominate trees which could be used as the state's Christmas tree. The state will remove and transport the tree free of charge.
Nominations need to meet certain criteria. Trees must be either a red cedar, white pine, or Norway spruce. It must be roughly 40 feet tall and located in an area where foresters can remove it in one piece.
The department likes to pick trees which are in need of coming down.
"A lot of my job is convincing people the benefits of trees and to plant them," explained Community Forester Chuck Connor. "So we don't want to cut a tree just to get a Christmas tree. We're looking for one that for either reasons of construction, or it's too big for the space, it needs to come down."
You have until October 10 to send nominations to the state. For information on how to apply, click here.
In Kansas, a different nursery from the state’s Christmas Tree Grower's Association donates a tree to go inside the governor’s mansion in Topeka.
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