Local residents will have a chance to cut their own Christmas trees in the Thompson Divide area on Saturday.
It’s the third year the White River National Forest and Wilderness Workshop’s Defiende Nuestra Tierra program will be leading the outing.
Omar Sarabia, director of Defiende Nuestra Tierra, said the event is also a “posada celebration,” with traditional Mexican food and drinks.
“A posada is a traditional party before Christmas in Mexico to host or to have someone in your place,” he said. “But for us, it's just a great excuse to go into the outdoors and have tamales and champurrado and cut a tree.”
Sarabia said the annual, bicultural event is also a chance for English- and Spanish-speaking residents to come together while learning how to do something new.
“I remember the first time that I went to cut my first tree when I was a kid,” he said. “I think you create memories with your family and that's what we're trying to do — connect the Latino community with our local forest but, at the same time, create memories for their families as well.”
Participants will meet at the Babbish Gulch Trailhead, near Glenwood Springs, at 10 a.m.
The tree cutting will take place in the Thompson Divide area.
Sarabia said Wilderness Workshop and Defiende Nuestra Tierra will be sharing information about the latest efforts to protect the 225,000 acres of public lands at Thompson Divide from future oil and gas leasing, as well as mining, under the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act.
“It's important to stop by and see how beautiful the Thompson Divide is and why we are trying to protect this beautiful landscape that’s in our backyard,” he said.
Saturday’s outing is free, and complimentary Christmas tree-cutting permits and instruction will be provided by the U.S. Forest Service.
Registration is required on Wilderness Workshop’s website or on Facebook.