Although it will take time to fully assess the damage, it’s unlikely the devastation from Hurricane Helene will have a significant effect on the supply of Christmas trees this year.
Jennifer Greene, the executive director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, said her state is the second-largest Christmas tree producer in the country, with 96% of the production based in the Western North Carolina mountain region. Ashe, Avery, Alleghany, Watauga, Jackson and Mitchell counties produce the bulk of those trees.
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“We do not expect the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to have a significant effect on the supply of real North Carolina Fraser fir Christmas trees this holiday season,” Greene said in an email. “Christmas tree farmers are resilient, and they possess the grit and determination to overcome the most challenging circumstances.”
Helene is the most catastrophic storm most residents have seen in the Western North Carolina mountains, Greene said, but Christmas tree farming is a livelihood and a large economic contributor to that region.
Staff photo / Leslie Williams with NACS/MedSrv decorates the company Christmas tree at Miller Park on Nov. 17, 2023. A group representing North Carolina Christmas tree farmers said supply was not significantly affected by Hurricane Helene.Greene said officials are still gathering information from farmers about the extent of the storm’s impact. The next step will be working together to create a plan for harvesting and shipping. The association’s top priority is the well-being of farmers, their families, workers and everyone still navigating the damage from Hurricane Helene, she said.
“We have a long way to go, but we have every confidence that in November, we will welcome our faithful friends to our local choose-and-cut farms, and our wholesale Christmas trees will be on their way down the mountain, ready to help families celebrate the merriest season of all,” Greene said.
John Weaver, owner of Weaver Tree Farms, transports pumpkins and Christmas trees about 300 miles from his farm in West Jefferson, North Carolina, to sell them in Chattanooga. Although his farm avoided the worst of the storm, Weaver’s trip to the Scenic City was about two hours longer this year because of damaged roads between North Carolina and Tennessee.
Weaver’s home is in Ashe County, North Carolina, which is the single largest Christmas tree producing county in the United States, according to the Ashe County Christmas Tree Association.
The county has about 12,000 acres of Christmas trees in production, amounting to about 20 million trees, the group says on its website. Trees and greenery contribute more than $85 million to the Ashe County economy each year.
Last week, transportation officials in Tennessee and North Carolina were in the process of reopening roads closed by the storm. David Uchiyama, a spokesperson for North Carolina Department of Transportation, said last week Interstate 40 in North Carolina is closed from mile marker 20 to the Tennessee state line. Stretches of the eastbound lane of I-40 have fallen into the Pigeon River. That section will be closed indefinitely, Uchiyama said.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.