ELKINS, W.Va. (WVDN) – West Virginia attorney and World Champion Lumberjack Arden Cogar, Jr. and longtime Monongahela National Forest employee Ron Polgar have been chosen to harvest the 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from Monongahela National Forest in early November.
Arden Cogar is a lifelong West Virginia resident and part of a family known for its association with the West Virginia timber industry for six generations and its dominant presence in lumberjack sports for more than sixty years. Arden has won 55 individual world titles in his sport, four U.S. Stihl Timbersports Series Championships, and numerous state and national championships. He has practiced law in West Virginia for more than 26 years. His father, Arden Cogar, Sr., harvested the 1976 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree from the Gauley Ranger District.
“Monongahela National Forest has been part of my entire life,” said Cogar. “My family has worked the hills of West Virginia in the timber industry for six generations. But beyond that, we have acted as stewards of the forest to create a sustainable economy for the rural communities in the central highlands of West Virginia.”
Ron Polgar works as a biological technician on Monongahela National Forest and is well-known as an expert botanist. He has worked on the Forest for 46 years, longer than any other employee. During the Vietnam War, he served aboard the USS Chicago in the Gulf of Tonkin as a radarman and will have 50 years of federal service in March 2024.
“A childhood friend from New Jersey brought me to West Virginia, where I have stayed for nearly 50 years, finding the serenity and comfort of the mountains to my liking,” said Polgar. “President Carter’s administration created the Young Adult Conservation Corps, and crew leaders were needed on national forests hosting the program. It was my foot in the door in 1978.”
In addition to his work as a botanist, Ron has coordinated the Forest’s saw program since 1990. He trains both chainsaw and crosscut sawyers and is known to meticulously maintain all tools.
These two experienced sawyers will use a crosscut saw to harvest the 63-foot Norway spruce that will be displayed on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this holiday season, with support from a STIHL chainsaw. ALL Crane & Equipment Rental of Nitro will provide cranes to lift the tree onto a specially built frame on a Hale trailer. The tree will tour the state of West Virginia beginning with a kick-off event in Elkins November 4, stopping in communities along the way before it is delivered to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The harvest will be filmed and shared online at https://www.facebook.com/MonongahelaNF and https://www.facebook.com/USCapitolChristmasTree.
About the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree initiative is a 53-year tradition in which one of America’s 154 national forests provides a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the holiday season. The project is made possible with support from partners including non-profit Choose Outdoors along with cash and in-kind contributions from companies large and small as well as volunteers locally and across America.
We invite you to follow the 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree project:
- Facebook: @USCapitolChristmasTree and @MonongahelaNF
- Twitter: @USCapitolTree
- Instagram: @USCapitolChristmasTree
- #EndlesslyWildandWonderful
To learn more about the history of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, visit https://www.aoc.gov/what-we-do/programs-ceremonies/capitol-christmas-tree. Follow along at www.uscapitolchristmastree.com.
