TIVERTON— Rhode Island's tree farmers have mixed feelings about a proposed government fee on natural Christmas trees that was recently delayed by the Department of Agriculture.
Under the department’s plan, large-scale producers and importers of natural trees would have been charged 15 cents per Christmas tree, with the revenue generated being used to fund a board to promote the natural tree industry.
"It's just like paying dues. It's not something new within the industry. This is just something that has become public in the media," said Jean Bento, owner of the Patchet Brook Farm in Tiverton.
Meanwhile, Donald Gavin, owner of Boughs & Berry Farm in Little Compton, said he did not favor a government-mandated surcharge on trees.
"If they got their money house in order they wouldn't need a 15 cent charge on a Christmas tree," Gavin said.
Bento, a former president of the Rhode Island Christmas Tree Growers Association, told Rhode Island Catholic she supports the fee, though it would impact her since her farm, which at 90 acres is one of the state's largest tree farms.
"The promotional board can be a good idea. The Agriculture Department has always been our ally, but it depends who's on the board, and what their objectives are," Bento said.
The Agriculture Department planned to impose a 15-cent-per-tree charge on producers and importers of fresh Christmas trees who sell or produce more than 500 trees a year.
The fee—which was requested in 2009 by the National Christmas Tree Association—would have gone to create a "Christmas Tree Promotion Board," which would have gone into effect in early November. The board would have marketed the sale of real Christmas trees, similar to other industry efforts such as the "Got Milk?" "Incredible, edible eggs," and "Pork, the new white meat" advertising campaigns.
The Christmas Tree Association, which hoped the fee would collect $2 million for the promotion board, said the fee program was not expected to increase the prices consumers would pay for Christmas trees.
The board planned to launch a "program of promotion, research, evaluation and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry's position in the marketplace," according to the United States Federal Register.
However, some conservative commentators and Congressional Republicans called the fee a "tax on Christmas" by President Barack Obama's administration. David Addington, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and current economic analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, criticized the administration, writing: "The economy is barely growing and nine percent of the American people have no jobs. Is a new tax on Christmas trees the best President Obama can do?
The Obama administration backtracked, and has indefinitely suspended plans for the proposed Christmas tree promotion board.
Eric Watne, president of the Rhode Island Christmas Tree Grower's Association and owner of Clark's Tree Farm in Tiverton, said the proposed fee-funded promotion board was "not a bad idea."
"Other industries do something similar to this, to good effect," Watne said.
"To the extent that the promotion board would put the money to good use, and not into the bureaucratic machine, it would be a good thing. I think if you can bring attention to the industry, it would be generally beneficial."
On Sunday, Cheryl Morgan, her husband Rick and their seven-year-old daughter Quinn canvassed a field at Patchet Brook Farm in search of the perfect Christmas tree.
They eventually selected and tagged an eight-foot Meyer Spruce to grace their home in the Nanaquaket section of Tiverton for Christmas.
Like many, Cheryl Morgan appreciates the beauty of a natural tree and sees the value of promoting the sale of these time-honored staples of the Christmas season.
“I do believe we need to infuse people with more information and to do whatever we can to promote the industry,” Cheryl Morgan said of a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of purchasing live Christmas trees.
But she doesn’t appreciate the notion of levying a so-called “tree tax” in order to do so.
“You can’t even go out and buy a Christmas tree without someone putting their hands into your pocket,” she said.
Bento said a public awareness and education campaign may have helped the industry, noting that many people continue to buy artificial trees, though Bento and other farm owners say real trees are a more environmentally-friendly alternative.
"There are many benefits from growing the trees, from the air to wildlife. It's a renewable source. It's something that can be used after to control erosion and for mulch in your garden. There are all sorts of use for them," she said.
Bento said the industry had been looking to impose a fee on itself for about 15 years before the federal government tried to intervene. She said some Christmas tree producers had already been voluntarily paying fees for some public awareness and education efforts.
"It's about education and knowing the good points of having a real Christmas tree," Bento said.
