ITD ready to deliver the Capitol Christmas tree Monday

The Idaho Transportation Department is ready to deliver the state’s Christmas tree to the steps of the Capitol on Monday morning.

This year’s tree, which is always a blue spruce, will be held upright by a crane while it is cut and then carefully loaded onto ITD’s 50-foot transport truck.

From there, it will be transported to the Capitol, where it will be lowered into a specially designed 9-foot hole.

ITD has been safely transporting Idaho’s Christmas tree for more than 20 years.

This year’s journey will be a short one for ITD, as the tree will be harvested from a location behind the Capitol, off West State Street.

The Capitol administration team maintains a list of eligible trees from people who wish to donate, and in August, the state’s Christmas tree is selected from that list.