National Park Service (NPS) rangers at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area have signaled they want to end the decades-long Christmas tradition of Americans decorating the area’s many evergreen trees.
In a post on its Facebook page earlier this month, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area rangers asked the public to keep the area “natural” this year, and to enjoy decorations “at home.”
Why It Matters
Americans have been decorating trees along the Christmas Tree Pass with ornaments, plastic decorations, candy canes and various types of food for decades.
It is not clear exactly what year the traditions began, but it is understood they began after Lake Mead became a National Recreation Area in 1964.
While they have previously warned Americans about littering and graffiti in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the area’s NPS rangers did not issue the same kind of request about the Christmas tradition last year, or in 2023, highlighting their recent change in attitude toward the tradition.
What To Know
In a post shared on Facebook on December 16, the Lake Mead park rangers wrote that while the tradition is “festive in spirit,” the Christmas decorations placed on the area’s evergreens “can break down over time and introduce plastics and fibers into the desert environment.”
The rangers have said that they are “regularly” having to remove “debris” from the tradition to “help protect wildlife, preserve natural ecosystems, and keep the landscape healthy for everyone who visits.”
“Responsible recreation plays an important role in caring for public lands, especially during high-use seasons,” they added.
The rangers then requested that Americans “please help us keep Lake Mead natural by enjoying decorations at home and leaving no trace during your visit.”
“The park’s natural beauty does the shining all on its own,” they added.
According to a Fox News report on the update, park ranger William Foster, who has patrolled Christmas Tree Pass for eight years, said that Americans were putting up “bagels, popcorn, doughnuts, marshmallows on the points of all the yucca,” like a “natural skewer.”
He said the concern is that these kinds of decorations attract animals to the road, and “the more time they spend on the road, which is where the trees are all decorated, the more likely it is that they get hit by a vehicle.”
“We just want the wild animals to stay wild and not get habituated to human food, which can make them sick, or habituated to coming to the roadway or to vehicles to get food handouts,” he added.
Because of these wildlife safety concerns, the rangers have had to embark on a major cleanup to remove decorations from Christmas Tree Pass, which stretches 17 miles from pavement to pavement – a job that took them 30 hours, Fox News reported.
Foster said he felt “kind of Grinchy taking them down,” liking Christmas “as much as anybody else.” However, the rangers reminded Americans the park’s motto is “leave no trace.”
What Happens Next
While the Lake Mead park rangers have requested that visitors do not leave behind any litter or decorations, Americans are still encouraged to enjoy the parks over the festive season.
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