UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences offers five reasons why it is politically and environmentally correct to buy a real Christmas tree:

1. You can breathe easier knowing Christmas trees are being grown. Christmas trees in the United States provide the daily oxygen requirements for 18 million people.

2. Real trees are a renewable resource. They don't require burning fossil fuels to produce, as do artificial trees. Approximately 34 million trees are sold every year.

3. Christmas tree farms are good for animals. They serve as wildlife habitat and increase soil stability, improving marginal lands. A million acres nationally are in Christmas tree production.

4. Buying a real tree every year is good for the economy. There are over 15,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States. The industry employs approximately 100,000 people. The total Christmas tree crop was valued at $360 million in 1999.

5. Buying a real tree is good for Pennsylvania. The state is among the top five states in Christmas tree production. There are 1,500 Christmas tree growers in the state who grow approximately 46 million Christmas trees. About 2 million of them are harvested annually. Six million new Christmas tree seedlings are planted in Pennsylvania every year.

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Contact:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax