Growers say buying W.Va. tree boosts local economy

West Virginia Christmas tree growers want you to buy a tree grownin West Virginia. Buying a tree grown in the Mountain State is aboost for the local economy, said Bob Whipkey, 64, who runs theWhipkey Tree Farm off the Big Chimney exit of Interstate 79. Yourebuying off West Virginia folks and buying West Virginia trees, hesaid. Were trying to promote that fact: first getting a real treeand buying from a West Virginia tree farmer. Customers should makesure the trees they buy are not shipped in from out of state,suggested Donald Farley, manager of Lillys Landscaping nearPrinceton. Were just plain against out-of-state trees, he said. Ourmotto is: if you dont have a West Virginia tree, take it somewhereelse. While there are several small farms in the state, the majorityof Christmas trees sold come from out of state, said Ed Grafton, aBraxton County tree farmer. Most of them that come into this stateare for the big retailers like Walmart and Lowes, Grafton said. Hesaid there currently arent enough small farms in the state tosatisfy the demands that those larger retailers have from theirsuppliers, so most trees sold in the state come from North Carolina,Michigan and Oregon. Theyre looking for 100,000 of trees or morethat are marketable, so youve got to have a big farm to have thatmany trees that are marketable, Grafton said, noting it would take a300- to 400-acre farm to meet that need. He said the tree growersorganization is working with the West Virginia University ExtensionService to promote tree farms throughout the state. We need toexpand the growers in the state thats what wed really like to do,he said. Our goal is to get enough growers around to get a localtree farm within 25 miles of anyone in the state.