When it made no sense to grow Christmas trees for profit in N.L.

Access to a saw was an integral part of Christmas for a lot of Newfoundlanders in the 1980s.

Because a saw was what you needed if you were going to cut down a tree from the forest — which anyone was allowed to do in Newfoundland back then, if that tree was for personal use.

"The build-up to Christmas in the stores and that back in October and early November, it doesn't mean a thing to me until we go in and get our tree," said Gerry St. George, a Newfoundlander who talked to The National in December 1982 about the tradition of cutting down your own Christmas tree.

"I mean this is just the start of Christmas to us. That's the way it's always been."

'They can cut as many as they like'

As Barbara Yaffe explained to viewers, Newfoundland was one of only two provinces at that time — the other being Saskatchewan — that allowed residents to cut down trees on Crown land without a permit.

"They can cut as many as they like, as long as it's for their own private use," said Yaffe.

Permits were required, however, for those looking to cut down Christmas trees in order to sell them. 

Don't mess with tradition

The passionate attachment Newfoundlanders had to their Christmas tree traditions did not go unnoticed by the provincial government.

"Our government would be in a great deal of jeopardy if we were to prevent persons from cutting Christmas trees for their own personal use on any part of Crown land," said Charlie Power, the provincial minister of forests.

Power noted there was no concern that the province would run out of Christmas trees.

"We have a very small population in relation to the number of acres of Crown land and therefore, we have always been able to make sure persons have access to areas where Christmas trees are available," he said.

Life is different in Newfoundland these days, however, as a domestic cutting permit is now required to cut down a Christmas tree for personal use.

The permit fee is $25, or $16.25 for seniors.