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Forestry Club holds its annual holiday tree sale

By Carol Ness

Cleo Linzer with incense cedar

Five-year-old Cleo Linzer picks out an incense cedar at the Cal Forestry Clubs annual Christmas tree sale outside Mulford Hall. (NewsCenter photo)

Weathering six straight hours of rain Saturday in the Sierra Nevada, Cal Forestry Club members cut down some 300 fir and cedar trees for their annual holiday tree sale, going on now outside Mulford Hall.

The trees white fir, red fir and incense cedar, mainly come in all sizes and shapes up to 10 feet tall. They are considered to have been sustainably harvested, because the students culled those that would not normally survive to adulthood, often because they are growing too close to other trees. The trees came from a stand maintained by Sierra Pacific Industries, the lumber company.

Making their annual trip to the sale Monday were the Linzer family of Berkeley. Rachel Linzer spent years as a grad student in Mulford Hall, earning her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and remembers bringing her daughter Cleo as a newborn. Cleo, now 5, picked out a fragrant incense cedar an foot taller than herself.

This is our favorite thing, Rachel Linzer said.

The yearly sale helps send Forestry Club students to the national convention of the Society of American Foresters.

The sale started Sunday, and will continue through the week, or as long as supplies last. Trees cost $6 per linear foot; wreaths are $10.