By James Straub

The time-honored industry of making and marketing Maine wreaths provides seasonal income for independent workers who gather the raw materials, home-based wreath makers and marketers and large, multi-million-dollar businesses.

No matter how big or small one’s wreathing business, those who cash in on the annual market know one key to success lies in the quality and abundance of balsam fir tips.

Photo Caption, 8pt Verdana Bold PHOTO BY, 8pt Verdana Bold All-Caps   Rangers Stay Busy Tracking “Tippers” By Tom Walsh ELLSWORTH — Maine Forest Service rangers patrolling balsam forests in Hancock and Washington counties have been busy issuing summonses for theft to “tippers” caught gathering evergreen boughs illegally. As of Wednesday, 34 people had been charged with theft in both counties by the six forest rangers who have been conducting foot and road patrols since the first week of November. Maine Forest Service Ranger Andrew Gacek uses a Global Positioning System receiver to determine land ownership while investigating a “tipping” complaint in eastern Hancock County. PHOTO COURTESY OF MAINE FOREST SERVICE    “Those who have been found guilty in district court have been getting fined $200,” said District Ranger Jeff Currier.    Recent changes in Maine law make conviction on a third theft charge a felony, which Currier said applies to stealing evergreen boughs.    “There are people out there who we have charged twice before,” he said. “We keep a watchful eye for them, but we haven’t yet had a third charge brought against anyone. Hopefully, the possibility of facing a felony will serve as a good deterrent.”    Rangers patrol both large and small forestlands, documenting legal tippers and ticketing those who cannot produce written landowner permission. They often find people tipping on the wrong property or producing forged tipping permits.    “Investigations of tipping complaints involve more than just checking permits,” Currier said. “It also means verifying the identity of the tipper, the validity of the permit and the actual ownership of the land.    “We use global positioning system technology to assist us in making certain that the tipper is on the correct property. Further investigation also leads us to town offices to view tax maps and the registry of deeds.”    Currier said the number of people charged with theft during this year’s wreath-making season is “about average.”    “When the economy is not so great, and people need extra money, we find more tippers in the woods and more violators,” he said.    “Over the years, we’ve learned where the balsam hotspots are, and we keep close watch on those areas. When we get snow, we issue more summonses. One year, we had light snow just about every other day, which created tracks that helped us follow people back into the woods.”    Evergreen boughs confiscated by forest rangers from illegal tippers don’t go to waste. They are brought to wreath makers, who weigh them and issue a receipt with an assigned value.    “Upon a conviction, we give the boughs slip to the landowner,” he said. “If the defendant is found not guilty, they receive the slip, which can be redeemed at the wreath-making business. This way, the boughs are used by the industry and not left in our evidence holding facility to rot.”    With Christmas only 10 days off, Currier said bough harvesting season is over.

The record-setting rainfall that kept much of Maine damp this year helped produce a banner crop of fir boughs.

Jim Philp, a forestry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said the brush used in wreathing is in “real good shape” this year because of the abundance of rain during the growing season.

He said that tippers encountered one minor problem: much of Maine stayed warm until late in the tipping season.

Normally, Philp said, people who gather balsam fir tips don’t harvest until after a frost, but in late October, many areas remained frost-free.

Despite a slow start to the tipping season, wreath makers generally are pleased with weather conditions.

“The weather has been tolerable,” said Doug Kell, owner of Kelco Industries and Sunrise County Evergreens. “It’s been good for wreath makers.”

Kelco Industries produces supplies used in Christmas tree and wreath businesses, providing everything from wire rings and decorations to machines used in planting and harvesting trees and making and packaging wreaths.

Sunshine County Evergreens, the mail-order arm of Kelco, ships about 60,000 wreaths, trees and Christmas centerpieces a year.

Kell said the sale of supplies and equipment represents about 75 percent of his annual business and serves some 7,000 regular customers nationwide. Mail-order sales account for 25 percent, and combined, Kelco does more than $5 million in sales annually.

Kell, too, said that the abundance of moisture this year helped greens grow well. He acknowledged that a warm October delayed much of the tipping activity in Hancock and Washington counties, but he said he resolved that issue several years ago.

“We bought land in northern Maine to raise our own greens,” he said. “It’s colder there.”

So, how is business this year?

“This year, business has been brisk — average or a little better,” Kell said.

Dick McWilliams, owner of Harbor Farm in Little Deer Isle, said that his mail-order wreath business is “running neck-and-neck with last year.”

McWilliams said he purchases balsam fir wreaths from off-site wreath makers. The wreaths are decorated at Harbor Farm and mailed nationwide and beyond. He markets about 10,000 wreaths annually.

McWilliams and Kell have noticed changes in Maine’s longstanding wreath industry.

“I think the whole wreath business took a hit on 9/11 and hasn’t fully recovered,” McWilliams said. “It’s pegged to the general economy.”

He said that many stock traders and others who bought large orders of Maine wreaths were killed during the terrorist attacks in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We haven’t made it up,” he said of the lost sales. “ It’s crazy — what happens in downtown Manhattan affects Little Deer Isle.”

McWilliams said that while nature continues to provide an abundance of wreath-making greens in Maine, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find wreath makers.

“The number of people who used to live on a seasonal economy is becoming fewer and fewer,” he said. “The best wreath makers are gone, and their kids and grandkids are not taking over.”

He said the demand for Maine wreaths is increasing but the supply is going down, which leads to “crunches” at various times.

Kell has noted similar changes in the wreath-making workforce.

“There have been a lot of changes in the industry,” he said. “There used to be hundreds of thousands of wreaths made in Maine. Now it’s tens of thousands.”

Kell said Canada has had an influence on the decline in number of wreaths made in Maine. He said that many wreaths decorated in Maine and shipped from here actually are made in Canada.

“More and more wreaths are coming in from Canada,” McWilliams said. “Canada has more available acreage to tip and more people working the land.”

Still, the wreathing industry adds several million dollars to the Maine economy each year.

“The Maine mail-order wreath business is a huge boost to the economy,” said McWilliams. “It redistributes money from all over the United States and other countries to Little Deer Isle. It’s a wonderful injection of funds to Deer Isle, Maine.”

McWilliams said much of the revenue from the making and selling of wreaths goes to Mainers “utilizing a well-understood craft,” adding that the industry often provides income to people in the low-income bracket at a good time as they shop for Christmas gifts and pay home-heating bills.

Kell and Philp said there is no exact count of the number of wreaths made and marketed in Maine, partly because the industry is so fragmented, including numerous small mail order and roadside businesses, as well as well-known industry giants such as L.L. Bean.

Kell said the annual revenue from Maine wreaths probably totals between $50 million and $100 million.

“Years ago, you would buy a wreath for 30 cents and sell it for 60 cents,” Kell said. “Now, you buy one for $4 to $6 and sell it for $25 or more, retail or mail order. Though the quantity has dropped, the dollar value has increased.”