[sound of wind] [soft music] ♪♪ [water ripples] [birds chirp] ♪♪ [music intensifies] ♪♪ -Each year a national forest is chosen to provide a Christmas tree to stand proudly on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol.

This is the story of this year's Christmas tree and its journey to Washington, D.C., From Nevada.

The story begins in 1964 when Speaker of the House John W. McCormick arranged for a live Christmas tree to be planted on the West Front Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol.

This tree was short-lived as weather and other issues caused it to wither and die.

In 1970 the Architect of the Capitol and the U.S.

Forest Service stepped in to carry on the tradition but in a new way.

Each year a different national forest would be selected to provide the People's Tree to our nation's capital, a gift from our public forests.

For the 2025 holiday season, the tradition continues.

Welcome to Nevada and the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

♪♪ The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is the largest national forest in the lower 48 states, covering nearly 6.3 million acres across Nevada and parts of Eastern California.

It is made up of scattered mountain ranges and valleys offering diverse landscapes from high alpine peaks to desert canyons.

The planning and search for the Christmas tree takes about a year.

The men and women of the United States Forest Service have been working on this project for six months now.

It's April.

-Duncan Leao.

I am the Priority Landscape Coordinator for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

We are in the Carson Range along the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Mount Rose area, Mount Rose Highway corridor.

About 8,000 feet elevation, it's one of our higher elevation portions of the forest where there's a mixed conifer forest comprised of red fir, western white pine, white bark pine, lodgepole pine, and Jeffrey pine.

It's a privilege for me to be leading this effort, providing Nevada's first tree, the People's Tree, to the nation's capital.

The process to identify the trees, you know, it started out with some criteria provided to us by the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.

So that meant that we were looking for a tree that looked like a Christmas tree.

Had to be a beautiful shape, full crown, healthy tree, free of insects and disease, roughly between 60 to 80 feet tall and branches less than 30 feet wide so we could get it on a truck and trailer across the country.

Candidate trees that we've looked at are beautiful trees.

We had to narrow down where we were looking based on the best access.

We sent a lot of our field-going folks out with some criteria to look at what a candidate tree might be, and then they provided notes and photos to myself and our tree lead so that we could start that process of narrowing down the candidate trees.

Candidate trees that we have right now that we narrowed it down, we were looking for eight to twelve candidate trees, and we've got five trees in the Reno/Carson City area and then five trees in the Spring Mountains area near Vegas.

♪♪ -My name is Taylor Tims, and I'm the Developed Recreation Staff Officer for the United States Forest Service.

The nomination process for our forest started with a call from our supervisor's office, which is located in Sparks, Nevada.

They flew it out to all the Forest Service employees on the entire forest and asked for us all to just think of the prettiest trees we've seen in our day-to-day field work and nominate them as Christmas trees.

-My name is Ray Johnson.

I've worked for the U.S.

Forest Service for 26 years.

When we first found out about this tree, we started looking for candidates.

So we would go look in campgrounds and along roadways.

We were trying to think about somewhere where it was easily accessible, also the esthetic of the tree.

We were trying to look at those generally here.

We are looking at white firs instead of the ponderosas.

It fits the parameters very nicely, and I know that the rest of the forest is looking at those things as well.

So we have some in mind, and we've sent those to the supervisor's office.

And those decisions will be made a little bit later in the summer.

We're just so happy that our forest has been chosen, whether it comes from here or up at one of the other districts; that we get to represent our forest and send our tree as a present to the country to Washington, D.C.

-My name is Joshua Thalacker, and I'm a fuel specialist.

Not a whole lot of people know about Nevada.

They think it's just a desert wasteland.

But this is our time to educate people of how special this place is and diverse and all the cool places you can see here.

-It is so true; Nevada is diverse in so many ways, from the rugged and unique landscapes to the interesting sites throughout the state.

Did you know Nevada is the most mountainous state in America?

It is, with over 300 individual mountain ranges.

Many of these ranges run north to south and are separated by wide desert valleys, creating Nevada's dramatic landscapes.

Appreciating these landscapes is all a matter of getting a little out there and doing some exploring.

It's when you venture out into the rural portions of Nevada that you'll discover the magic that is Nevada.

♪♪ Like Goldfield.

Here you'll find the International Car Forest of the Last Church, an interesting collection of cars, busses, and trucks, each with its own artistic flair.

♪♪ In Goldfield, you'll also find landmarks, museums, and moments from our history frozen in time.

♪♪ A great place to learn more about Nevada is further north in Carson City.

(Lydia Beck) I love that Carson City is the state capital, because most people think it's Las Vegas.

So we're always a surprise and delight, is something that I like to say.

And so for people to be able to understand, not only the forest and the mountains that are here in Nevada, there's so much diversity across this state.

And the fact that we get to tie it to Christmas in such a fun and beautiful time is something that's just a perk for us.

-Carson City is not only the state capital, it's the foundation of Nevada's beginning.

Nevada is rich in history and has helped shape America.

-Dan Neverett, Docent for the Nevada State Museum.

The initial movement of people to Nevada was toward the Virginia City area when gold was discovered in the Dayton, Nevada area.

And then they, when they were digging and finding the gold, they were finding this grayish blue sludge that was in many of the areas.

And come to find out, that was silver.

And so then they discovered the silver, which then led to the Comstock Lode and Virginia City becoming the second largest city west of the Mississippi for a number of years.

And so that drew a lot of people here to the Nevada area, especially Northern Nevada, because of that.

The catalyst for the statehood really was because of Abraham Lincoln's running for re-election in 1864.

He wanted Nevada's three electoral votes.

And Nevada was known at the time because of the Comstock Lode, the gold and the silver that was coming out of the Virginia City area.

In 1858 Abe Curry came here.

In 1861 we became the territory of Nevada.

In 1864 we became the state of Nevada.

And again, it was because Lincoln wanted us to vote in the election of 1864.

And if my memory serves me correct, October 31, which is our birthday as a state, was on a Friday.

And a little over a week later, Nevadans voted in the federal election, re-electing Lincoln.

-It's June, and the number of candidate trees is at twelve, six in the Carson Range outside of Reno and six in the Spring Mountains just outside of Las Vegas.

You might think finding the right tree is an easy undertaking.

It's not.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill Christmas tree coming from a tree farm.

This is a natural tree coming off the land where its sole purpose has been survival over the course of generations through storms, avalanches, drought, fires, and more.

This needs to be one tough tree.

So let's meet some of our candidates, starting in the Spring Mountains.

These trees are part of a very select group, each one looked at and scrutinized from top to bottom.

Each tree's health is also closely monitored.

The chosen tree has a very important role to play, so picking the right tree is critical.

-This is one of our candidate trees.

It is a white fir, almost 60 feet tall and less than 30 inches in diameter.

It meets all the requirements.

This tree is a white fir, 22 inches in diameter and 75 feet tall and my personal favorite.

-The Spring Mountain Range has a strong group of candidate trees, and so does the Carson Range.

♪♪ When we started looking for candidate trees, this tree became basically the standard for what we were looking for in a Christmas tree.

It's got beautiful stout branches, cylindrical shape.

It's a little lower on our height range that we want, but it meets the standard for fullness, health, and overall dimensions that would fit on a trailer, fit on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

It's a red fir tree, so it's very representative of its environment, what it looks like.

We also looked at the health of the tree, and this one is very straight, very healthy, getting a good amount of water.

This one definitely is the epitome of a perfect looking Christmas tree that would work out very well.

When we first saw this tree, we definitely thought it was one of the better trees.

We were driving down the road, and it just popped.

It was open grown.

It had the look of a Christmas tree that I would want in my living room in my house.

Obviously, a lot taller.

Definitely one of our favorites so far.

-The person who has to make the final decision does not have an easy job, and that person is a representative of the Architect of the Capitol from Washington, D.C.

He will be arriving in the next couple of weeks to tour all the trees in Carson and the Spring Mountains.

In the meantime, there's more to do.

Right, Ray?

-Well, when we go to Washington, it's not just the Capitol Christmas Tree.

We're also going to supply many of the other agencies in Washington with smaller versions of Christmas trees, and we have to supply them with ornaments as well as the Capitol Christmas Tree and also tree skirts for all of those trees as well.

So we have contacted many of the quilting clubs throughout Nevada, and they were all very receptive and thought it was a great idea to come up with their interpretation of what's important in our state from Las Vegas to Reno, gambling, nightlife, but also really trying to focus on the great environmental opportunities we have and recreation we have with the skiing and the off-roading and the hunting and fishing and people just being out and enjoying the natural setting.

So the quilts that are being made are going to reflect those, those perceptions of the people making the quilts.

And then the same thing with the, with the ornaments.

We're trying to have lots of people involved, and they live here in this state.

And what they're making is a reflection of how they view Nevada.

-To clarify the ask, along with the Capitol Tree, Nevada will provide 50 handmade quilted tree skirts, 6 to 15 feet in diameter, plus 10,000 ornaments.

Each ornament must be handmade and represent the state.

♪♪ (Phyllis Suiter) I think it's awesome that we were asked to do this.

Everybody is so excited and feel that it's such an honor to be asked to make this skirt that's going to be displayed in Washington, D.C., in our nation's Capitol.

I think the challenge was to figure out how big the sections of the tree skirt could be in order to get 28 pieces together and then to make it 15 feet.

So I had to go into a quilt design program and put those dimensions in and then come up with how we were going to make it special for Nevada.

And our colors here in Nevada are blue and gray, and so we came up with the idea of alternating the colors of the spokes on the quilt.

And then to represent the culture and the wildlife and the heritage of Nevada, we decided to put pictures of all of that around the quilt with the logo or the theme of it, "Starry Nights to Neon Lights."

So the nice thing about that was, with the 28 spokes, it came out perfect right around with the lettering around the quilt.

So it was a little bit of a challenge trying to do that, but we got it, I think, designed, and we're now putting it together.

And the next challenge will be to get it quilted, because it has to be quilted in two pieces.

It's larger than a king-size quilt, and nobody has a long arm that big.

-As it gets closer to the arrival of the executive director from the Architect of the Capitol, Nevadans are in full swing making ornaments and tree skirts.

-I'm Courtney Ghiglieri.

I'm a Range Land Management Specialist for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Carson Ranger District.

So I am the interp.

education outreach lead for the project.

And what that means, we're getting the communities across Nevada involved with making tree skirts and ornaments and just building the excitement around the project.

I think it is an incredible opportunity and extremely exciting to share what's really special about Nevada with the rest of the United States.

I think when people hear "Nevada," they have something in mind.

Perhaps, you know, Reno, Las Vegas, the fun and flair, but this is an opportunity to share the other side of Nevada and those rural communities.

-Take rural community of Ely and White Pine County, for example, where history, art, and adventure come together under wide open skies.

Here you can step aboard a living piece of history on the Nevada Northern Railway and ride the same tracks that once carried copper and dreams across the desert, just another incredible part of Nevada's history and the growth of America.

(Sean Pitts) This place is unique because of its astonishing completeness that operated for 75 years in servicing a copper mine and then abruptly shut down.

And it's been preserved in the way, in the form that they left it when they walked away nearly 42 years ago.

So what happens here in Eastern Nevada is this railroad is integral to the production of copper.

We can-- You can have all the copper in the world, but if you can't get it out of here, it doesn't do you any good.

Eastern Nevada is relatively remote, but once it's accessed by a railroad--and this is true anywhere in the state of Nevada--once you access the ore deposit, you also have capability of doing passenger service or freight service and a number of other things that really help a community to grow and to develop.

Now, what happens in Eastern Nevada is the amount of copper that we're producing and the length of time of which we're producing it makes Ely, Nevada, the place that produces the copper that lights the nation.

In the tail end of America's Industrial Revolution is an electrical revolution, primarily because of two inventions, Thomas Edison's light bulb and Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.

Now all of America wants these and other extraordinary electrical inventions.

Electrical power changes the nature of work.

It changes the nature of life, because life doesn't stop when it gets dark any longer.

You have lights, street lights, home lights, everything that allows you to continue your day.

But all of those lights, all of those appliances, all of those elevators, street lamps, street cable cars, all of those require wire, and copper makes great wire.

Ely had the copper.

So in a very real way, Eastern Nevada will produce the copper that will light the nation as America grows and develops electrically throughout the entire country.

-Here you can also stroll through downtown Ely, where over 20 vibrant murals tell the stories of miners, ranchers, and pioneers who built this frontier town.

Like they say, Ely is small town with a big story, plus just a short drive away is the Great Basin National Park, home to ancient trees, Alpine trails, and some of the darkest, clearest night skies in America.

In this same area is also Nevada Highway 50, known as "The Loneliest Road in America."

This blacktop stretches across Nevada's vast desert landscapes, offering beautiful views while connecting travelers to small historic towns, rugged mountain ranges, and open skies that seem to go on forever.

It's July and the time has come, the tour of the candidate trees with the Executive Director of the Architect of the Capitol.

The tour will begin in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.

Several representatives from the U.S.

Forest Service will also participate in the tour.

So let's meet the man who will make the final decision on the U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree.

-My name is Jim Kaufmann.

I'm the Executive Director of Capitol Grounds and Arboretum at the Architect of the Capitol.

My responsibility ranges from maintaining the daily care of the United States Capitol grounds, but also planning for the long-term preservation of the Capitol grounds.

And part of that work also involves selecting the Capitol Christmas Tree.

Today starts our adventure to go find the 2025 Capitol Christmas Tree here in Nevada.

So we're here starting to explore the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and I'm being shown a selection of candidate trees that will be able to grace the front lawn of the United States Capitol as the People's Tree for 2025.

The right tree, finding the right tree, everybody makes, thinks that it's a easy thing.

I have to go find a Christmas tree in 6 million acres of forest.

That's not that hard.

However, trees grow together.

This has to be the perfect tree.

When trees grow together, they shade one side out from the other.

That's how nature grows.

But I'm looking for the perfect tree, something that has to be perfectly round, symmetrical, has to look good from the Speaker of the House of Representatives looking out from his balcony or the people from around the country coming up the West Lawn and looking at it.

There is no spot to hide on this tree, so we have to find the perfect tree.

We have to be able to start to look at these trees, see how they're going to be harvested, and then, ultimately, how are they going to look at the front of the United States Capitol.

So this is where we're starting to look at every candidate tree and see the qualities that each tree brings, the challenges that each tree brings, and, ultimately, how our teams together from the Forest Service and the Architected of the Capitol are going to really make sure that the People's Tree represents Nevada and represents all people at the United States Capitol.

-As this is all happening, the people from the U.S.

Forest Service who nominated these trees watch and wait.

Could the People's Tree come from the range they steward and have so much pride in?

Maybe.

There's still one more location to look at.

Next stop, the Carson Range in Northern Nevada near the Mount Rose area.

The team gathered at the Carson Range office before heading up to the location of the candidate trees.

-Monday, Tuesday was white fir trees, beautiful Christmas trees down in Vegas.

Today we have red fir trees, a little higher elevation in the fir variation of species.

Beautiful trees.

Stout branches.

You know, slightly different.

Maybe less full or less bushy than the white fir.

So it's kind of cool we get, for our forest here, we get a chance to see some really good candidates put forward and some variety in what that looks like.

♪♪ -Once on the range, the search continued.

-Again, every detail of each one of these trees is looked at and looked at and looked at.

This is by no means an easy decision.

Jim moved from one tree to the next, sometimes going back to a candidate for a second look.

As you watch Jim examine each tree, you can see the local U.S.

Forest Service members hoping for a clue to his favorite.

Not Jim; he's not giving any hints.

Everyone here is just excited for the opportunity and to be a part of this journey.

(Darby Boe) The whole concept of being able to cut the Capitol Christmas Tree and have it come from my own home state is amazing, like once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity, but once-in-a-lifetime personal opportunity for me, my family, my community, my state.

And I think it's a really cool opportunity for us as a state to showcase what Nevada means to us.

(Jon Stansfield) For me, Nevada means home, and I'm truly honored to be responsible for the management of National Forest System lands in Nevada.

And I'm as much or even more proud to represent my employees and the world-class work they do across the entire state managing Forest System lands.

-The final decision is now in Jim's hands as he heads back to Washington, D.C.

We are now one step closer to the selection of the People's Tree.

While all this is happening, throughout the state ornaments and tree skirts are being made.

The ornaments are coming from all over the state, each one created to reflect what Nevada means to the person making the ornament.

People of all ages are putting in the effort to represent Nevada and meet the tall order of ornaments needed, 10,000.

♪♪ The other need are the quilted tree skirts.

Visiting the people and groups who are making the quilts took us all over the state, through all 17 counties and into several rural communities.

It was great learning about each community and the skirts being made.

One of our first stops was in Alamo, Nevada, in Lincoln County.

Here we met up with Christine Foisy, a retired school teacher and self-professed Nevada girl.

She's quilting one of the smaller tree skirts.

Each quilter was told to create a quilt that best represents what Nevada means to them.

(Christine Foisy) I just kind of thought about Lincoln County and the things that were most important to it.

We have a lot of biking in here.

We do have a lot of wildlife.

I put some wildlife on it.

The Extraterrestrial Highway sign, I digitized it because that's kind of everybody knows our county for the Little A'Le'Inn and stuff.

So I just tried to figure out things that I personally would want on it.

Cathedral Gorge is on there.

You know, just things like that that I felt represented our county.

-Lincoln County is full of interesting things.

And as you continue to make your way up the 93 North, you'll pass through Caliente.

Here you'll find a mission-style train depot built in 1923.

This station served as a popular stop along the Union Pacific Railroad.

It still stands as a proud landmark of Nevada's railroad heritage.

When you take your time and venture just off the beaten path, you'll see some of Nevada's amazing and interesting sights.

Further north in Pioche, we met up with another quilter.

Her name is Dennie.

She showed us her quilt and told us a little bit about life in this tight-knit community.

(Dennie Hildebrand) If somebody needs something, everybody assists.

And anybody can bring them firewood, bring them food, bring them assistance, ride-- drive them to the doctors.

Doesn't matter.

Family.

We're all family.

-This is a theme in the rural communities.

People lean on each other and are there for each other.

It's a good way to live.

Next up is the town of Elko.

Located in Northeastern Nevada, Elko is a vibrant hub for ranching, mining, and outdoor adventure.

Rich in western heritage, Elko hosts the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, celebrating the art, culture, and traditions of the American West.

Surrounded by the rugged Ruby Mountains and wide open desert landscapes, Elko blends small town charm with a strong sense of community and Nevada spirit.

Several quilts are being made here, too.

(Claudia Wines) My daughter, Catherine, she said, Let's make a tree skirt.

And she is very talented, very original, has a lot of great ideas and does not know how to sew.

(Catherine Wines) My mom tried to teach me how to sew when I was a little girl, and I was probably too big a brat to, like, take it seriously and to really learn how.

And so now I kind of get this second chance.

My mom and I teamed up.

So I'm helping design it, and I think she's going to teach me how to quilt before we get done.

So, yeah, I'm excited about that.

And we're making a skirt that has a Christmas theme and also a Nevada theme, and it's about the seasons in Nevada and the mountains.

And we're excited about it.

-It's great to see people and families coming together all to show their pride in their home.

It's September and time to turn in the quilts and collect all the ornaments.

The hard work and dedication has really paid off.

Nevada has truly shown up.

The quilts are amazing, each one unique and meaningful, telling a story and representing the Silver State.

On the ornament side, the ask was 10,000.

Nevada delivered almost 24,000, the most ever.

Nevadans have done the job, displayed their excitement and pride.

With fall in full swing, it wasn't long before there was word a decision had been made.

♪♪ -Well, right behind me here, the tree that was selected is this beautiful red fir tree selected from the Carson Range just outside of Reno in Carson City, Nevada.

So what we're looking at here is Silver Bell.

Silver Bell, our employees helped name her.

She's a 53-foot-tall red fir, 20 inches diameter of the bole of the tree, and her branches spread 16 feet wide.

This tree being selected here is wonderful, a great location, a great tree out of all the candidates we provided.

Getting that information from the Architect of the Capitol's office has allowed us to plan all things around the harvest, which is one of our big next steps that we're looking to plan right now.

♪♪ -The harvest is a carefully planned operation from start to finish.

In the initial planning stage, the road leading to Silver Bell needed to be widened, leveled, and prepared for the truck, oversized trailer, and specialized crane.

The Nevada Department of Transportation took care of that.

From there, a crane was secured by a top-notch team of tree men who tied off the tree secured at multiple connection points.

This is so not to put any uneven pressure on the trunk of the tree as it is hoisted up.

A U.S.

Forest sawyer from the Carson Range was then brought in.

As the sawyer cuts, the crane operator tightens the hold on the tree in preparation to lift.

Then just as the chain saw clears the lower portion of the trunk, the tree is lifted and separated.

She stands perfectly upright, floating in the air.

Now, once the team is ready, the crane operator will lift and lower the tree at an even and steady pace till she is horizontal to the ground.

All eyes were trained on Silver Bell.

I'm sure several people were holding their breath.

From here, it's time to move her onto the trailer and custom-built cradles.

Each cradle is positioned to evenly distribute the weight of the tree.

This has to be done just right.

If it's not, the trunk could break en route.

This truck is not your standard truck and trailer.

It's specifically for the U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree.

A standard semi-truck trailer is 53 feet long.

This trailer is 80 feet.

This is no small operation.

Once Silver Bell is positioned on her cradle, it's then time for the care team to step in.

The care team has to prepare the tree for the journey.

This means water, lots of water.

This is done through the help of hoses and a bladder bag.

In preparation for the bag, the bark at the cut point needs to be shaved off.

This allows for the tree to have direct access to the water.

Time is of the essence.

The quicker they can secure the bag and fill it with water, the less stress there is on the tree.

The care team works as quickly as possible.

Darby Boe is one of the team's leads.

Her and her team will care for Silver Bell for the whole journey to the U.S.

Capitol.

Once the bark has been shaved, it's time to build the seal.

Over 100 wax toilet bowl rings are partially melted and worked completely around the trunk of the tree.

This will create a watertight seal for the bladder pack.

Can't have any leaks.

Once the bag is secured, straps will close the seal to the bag.

Then the team will fill the bag with water.

One problem: This bag doesn't fit.

A few large knots, along with the wax have made it a much tighter fit.

A bigger bladder is needed.

The team decides to move Silver Bell to her overnight location, where there is more light and a bigger bladder bag.

It's time for Silver Bell to be prepped and dressed for her whistle-stop tour.

The perfect place for this to happen is in an airplane hangar at a military facility.

The same crate system from the year prior is being used.

It will provide protection from the elements and a place for the care team to work while on tour.

It's now time for Silver Bell to meet the public on her whistle-stop tour.

It all starts with a multi-day cruise through Nevada.

First stop, Carson City and the Nevada Day Parade.

This tour is the opportunity for the home state to see their gift to the American people and wish her luck on the journey.

At each stop, people of all ages would gather to see Silver Bell.

They would get a look at her, see some of the handmade ornaments, and sign the banner wishing her well as she traveled to Washington, D.C.

Next up was the small rural community of Lovelock.

This portion of the whistle-stop tour allowed Nevadans the opportunity to see Silver Bell and wish her well.

While in Lovelock, the tree team kept a watchful eye on the bladder, making sure Silver Bell was staying hydrated.

(Ray Lopez) We're filling up the tree bladder.

We check it every morning and every night.

Ray Lopez kept up with the regular watering of the branches and keeping the bladder full.

Silver Bell was drinking anywhere between 10 to 15 gallons of water per day.

There was a concern for the team: weather.

The outlook showed that as the tour moved further south and the temperature went up, how much water would the tree need?

The tour continued on to the city of Elko.

It was great seeing each community come together in the holiday spirit and show their support.

Ely was next, before Las Vegas, then a quick stop at the Hoover Dam, each of these stops giving Nevadans the opportunity to wish the People's Tree well on her journey to the U.S.

Capitol.

(Rafael Villanueva) We're really excited about the tree.

The tree is doing and has done what we hope many people get the chance to do and travel our big, beautiful state.

The tree has followed this path that we're really excited about, but we're also excited about how this tree is going to make its way to Washington, D.C.

-It was time for Silver Bell to say goodbye to Nevada and officially begin to make her way across the country.

For the next 14 days, Silver Bell and the U.S.

Forest Service team will make their way to Washington, D.C., visiting cities and towns, meeting with people and spreading cheer and joy to all.

The tree's presence brought out young and old, all to wish her luck on the journey.

In between stops, the tree care team continued their efforts.

Today was Darby's turn to look after Silver Bell.

-There's nothing graceful about getting in and out of the trap door every day.

So if we break any branches or damage anything during transport, these are spare branches to fill in any gaps.

So we have about 50 or 60 branches here just in case anything happens to Silver Bell while we are driving down the road or even if we did anything during harvest or the packing.

So there's always a chance.

We try our best not to break branches as we're packing these trees, but sometimes it happens.

And so these branches are what fill in those holes when it-- when we do break branches.

Breaking branches is the one thing we try probably almost the hardest not to do during the packing process.

So I just spend, yep, just a few minutes getting the branches watered.

And then before I hook up the hose to the bladder bag, what we also want to do is we shoot water kind of down the sides of Silver Bell and across the top.

And what we're trying to do is create humidity in here so that she stays fresh.

So we don't want this environment to be too dry.

Once we're done getting water on the upper part of Silver Bell, then it's time to hook the hose up to the bladder bag.

Open up the bottom valve and then just slowly open up this valve, start letting the water in.

So I don't let it rush in; I try to just let it slowly go in.

Again, this bladder bag is pretty sensitive.

It's just wax that holds it together, and so we don't want to create a bunch of pressure really quickly.

You want to kind of just add the water slowly, because otherwise the bladder bag ends up leaking.

And what we've been finding is that we're getting leaks primarily on the bottom of the bag, which is one of the more difficult spots to get wax when we're putting the bladder bag on.

-As the tour continued, it was amazing to see community after community showing up to see the tree from Nevada.

The guy at the helm is Michael.

When he's not driving, signing autographs, or posing for pictures, he's getting ready for the next leg.

We'll catch up with him later.

Silver Bell wasn't the only star on this tour.

Just outside the spotlight, the men and women of the U.S.

Forest Service stood proud, engaging with people, educating about the public forests, and sharing their pride for Nevada, for America, and Silver Bell.

This is a dedicated bunch, a team, a family.

Each one of them know how special this moment in time is for them.

Here's a fact: Each year a different U.S.

Forest is chosen to provide the tree.

So maybe Nevada will get another turn like other states have... not anytime soon.

There is only one forest in Nevada.

Yes, it's the largest in the lower 48, but it's one forest.

The next time this could happen for Nevada, 75 to 100 years.

Washington, D.C., and the Capitol were only a day away.

Silver Bell's last stop before the Capitol was to Joint Base Andrews for some time with the troops and for the trailer to be carefully stripped down for everyone to get a full look at the red fir tree from Nevada.

♪♪ This was also the time to check the strength of branches, drain the bladder, pull off the bag, and see the true health of the tree.

♪♪ -All right.

Now, watch your feet.

♪♪ -Maybe if we can just push it.

There you go.

And we're free.

♪♪ -Things look great, better than great, amazing.

This tough Nevada girl is ready for the main stage, the West Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol.

Michael can only look on, but he knows tomorrow his day will start before dawn.

The final leg of the journey and the perfect time to talk to the guy who got Silver Bell here safe and sound.

(Michael Porter) Yes.

Today is the final move.

It's definitely been a long road to get here, so I'm quite ready to get this tree delivered to the Capitol and go home.

I think this is going to be my favorite part of this trip.

It's a relieving feeling to finally get it here and be able to step back and relax a little bit.

It's-- But the whole trip has been great.

All the different people that I've met, all the stops along the way, it's been a good time.

I do enjoy the attention.

It's been nice, so it'll be interesting.

Now I have to go back to my normal life, and I live a pretty low-key lifestyle.

I don't-- I don't do too much.

I don't go out.

So it'll be, it'll be interesting going back to that.

It's probably going to be a little boring.

-The red fir from the Carson Range in Nevada made it.

-We got it to DC.

We did our job.

And so the handoff to the Architect of the Capitol, I think, is a wonderful place to be right now for everyone.

Our job is done.

We can let our guard down, and everyone can go home to see their family for Thanksgiving.

We're gonna see the tree all lit up and beautiful.

And that's really the apex of what we did over the last year and a half is, start to finish, we get to enjoy Silver Bell and the People's Tree on the West Lawn lit up and all pretty and representing Nevada.

-It means the world to me to have been a part of this project.

This process, again, a really unique opportunity, and it's hard to put it into words, actually.

Like, really, there's such a mixed bag of emotions, and one emotion doesn't just quite capture it all.

It's been, it's been wonderful.

I'm very grateful to the Humboldt-Toiyabe for giving me this opportunity.

-The team all gathered to see the handoff, watching with joy in a job well done.

♪♪ It was a true journey to get here day after day, putting in the work and loving every minute.

Thank you.

Thank you for the gift-- her branches strong, her pride mighty, and her spirit for all.

♪♪ After a well-deserved Thanksgiving break, the team was back for Silver Bells' lighting.

The Capitol shared its thanks with the team.

They were praised and congratulated, celebrated throughout the Capitol.

They also got to see Nevada's work throughout the Capitol in the small Christmas trees, all the quilts and ornaments.

The spirit of Nevada was everywhere.

♪♪ And now the time has come.

She was ready-- the ornaments placed, the lights strung.

People gathered ready to see the gift from Nevada, the People's Tree, Silver Bell.

But first we need to hear from Grady.

His winning essay brought him to the Capitol to light Silver Bell.

And boy does he love Nevada.

-Hi.

My name is Grady Armstrong, and I am nine years old in the fourth grade at Hugh Gallagher Elementary School in Virginia City, Nevada.

My grandpa worked at Mount Rose ski area for nearly 50 years, and my dad is a firefighter at Lake Tahoe.

My mom is a teacher right here in Virginia City.

They have shown me the love for the forest, nature, and the outdoors.

I want the country to know how special Nevada's public land and national forests are.

These lands are full of wonder from big animals like elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and even moose, to smaller animals like fish, lizards, and birds.

Hiking with my family, I have seen water bubble out of the earth in places that look super dry.

These springs give life to so many plants and animals.

Sometimes you can find arrowheads near these springs, a reminder of the life they gave tribes that lived off the land.

We also love seeing ancient petroglyphs carved into rocks by people who lived here long ago.

My favorite wilderness areas are Mount Rose and Arc Dome.

We've also visited the Sheldon Antelope Refuge and the Massacre Rim Dark Sky Sanctuary, where the night sky is so dark you can see millions of stars.

One of my favorite things to do is when our family takes what my mom and dad like to call "Nevada highways," which are nothing more than dirt roads in the middle of nowhere.

[laughter] We found ghost towns, abandoned mines, and the most amazing untouched landscapes.

You don't have to go far to enjoy Nevada.

Right from my school playground, you can look east for hundreds of miles over the mountain ranges that make up the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Last month, we went to the top of Mount Davidson and watched the sunset over the Sierras and, at the same time, howled at the full moon as it rose over the Nevada landscape.

Nevada is not just a desert; it's full of life, history, and beauty.

And I think everyone should know how important it is to protect and enjoy these amazing places.

Thank you and Merry Christmas.

[cheers and applause] -Four, three, two, one.

There you go.

[cheers and applause] ♪♪ -And with that, the journey is complete.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas!

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas!

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas.

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

-Merry Christmas from Nevada.

♪♪ -Major funding for this program was provided by Travel Nevada.

Additional funding was provided by the Society of American Foresters, Nevada State Bank, and Sandy and Bob Ellis.