Sequoia Park Zoo Scores Tallest Living Lighted Christmas Tree

Sequoia Park Zoo Director Jim Campbell-Spickler won’t give the exact height of the tree that will be decorated just beyond the Watershed Heroes exhibit, since the public will be invited to guess the dimensions. But is it taller than the Sitka spruce celebrated at Ferndale’s annual lighting event?

“Absolutely,” says Campbell-Spickler, who has some climbing chops, noting he checked with a tape measure.

The zoo’s namesake trees will be illuminated along the Skywalk during its Zoo Lights event starting the second week of December, as will the new anticipated holder of the tallest living lighted Christmas tree title. For $5 ($4 members) over 15 nights, Campbell-Spickler says visitors can stroll among the walkways and view the tremendous tannenbaum as part of what he expects will be an even better experience than last year.

Arborist Bambi Anderson, who’s worked on and at times funded and rustled up volunteers from near and far for the maintenance of Ferndale’s tree, greeted the news saying, “Oh really? Cool!” She’s excited to learn how the festooning will be carried out, familiar as she is with the challenges of the job. Ferndale’s tree, which she says has eight tops that are lashed together for decoration and requires attaching an aluminum structure about 20 feet below them, as well as concrete anchors at the tree’s base, has faced challenges from aphids to the elements. The Ferndale Rotary Club is fundraising for its care.

Using old photos and other clues, she estimates Ferndale’s tree, decorated annually by its fire department, to be some 220 years old. And while the widely reported height is 162.5 feet, using ropes and a laser, “We remeasured and last year it was about 172 feet,” Anderson says.

In 2010, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, boasted the tallest living decorated tree. But, laments Anderson, who saw it in person, “They ended up killing that tree” with the very decorations that weighed it down. The stakes, like the tree tops, are high.

Kate Baldwin, special projects coordinator at the Sequoia Park Zoo, says, “As a conservation facility, we have such conservation elements in place … so that we won’t cause any damage to the tree.” The chosen tree is, “One of our natural redwoods that we’re lucky enough to have on our natural grounds at the zoo,” she says, and nobody wants to risk it. A crew of professionals is on the job, she says, digging trenches to bring electricity lines to the base, where they’ll power outdoor, weatherproof colored lights similar to those that adorn the Skywalk. The lights and ornaments, some of which will be inflatable, won’t use glass for both weight and safety.

Details are still being hammered out about the lighting ceremony and when the tree’s height will be revealed and bragging rights bestowed on those who guessed correctly.

As to getting the sparkle up to the top, “That’s Jim’s area,” Baldwin says, noting Campbell-Spickler will be among those making the climb. “As a rope-access professional, he’s going to be the one putting up those ornaments.” His field work with wildlife in the canopies gives her confidence. “If he can carry a bald eagle chick up and down a tree, he can carry an ornament.”

This article appears in Community Connection.