Alpine Ranches stretches over 30 acres and is, to put it mildly, a stunning property.
The ranch is unique as the owners don't raise cattle or horses – they grow Christmas trees.
The ranch has been run by David Doust and Wendy Pelletier with their land is devoted to growing white pine, Norwegian Spruce, and Alpine Fur.
Unfortunately, as Doust explains, they will be closing their doors after over a decade of spreading holiday cheer.
“We're closing operations because we're getting older,” said Doust. “But the biggest factor is because we were running out of trees. We've planted a lot but the demand exceeds what we can produce every year.”
However, they hope that someone in the local community can pick up the torch and carry on the tradition of providing a unique outing for families in Prince George.
“This is a great business. Part of the reason we're encouraging others is because people are going to depend on coming here and getting a tree, and they're going to be quite disappointed because this is something they've been doing for some people for 19 years,” Doust said.
“It's a good fun business that people love going out with a sleigh and a saw and cutting down their own trees, with their families, and sometimes we have three generations coming up here with 20 people enjoying the outing. That's what we do: we sell the trees but we also provide an outing which is in big demand in Prince George. Anybody can go to the supermarket and get a tree. But this is not something that more people should be doing. It's kind of ironic living in Prince George where all there is is trees and yet nobody is producing Christmas trees.”
Doust also emphasized that many tree farms are run by seniors who are unable to pass on the business to their children due to the labour and time it takes to properly run a Christmas tree farm. As trees take so long to grow, many aren't willing to put in the time investment either.
Still, the owners hope someone else picks up the tradition.
“It's up to other people and other farms,” said Doust. “If you have four or five acres that's partially cleared, just plant trees. Then we would like to pass on our expertise of what species to grow and where to buy them and all this stuff to somebody that's interested in starting this up. It can be a nice retirement hobby.”
Alpine Ranches has given a lot of joy not only to the family running it but also to the people who have been coming here for generations. Wendy Petiller, who co-owns the farm, has seen young couples grow and start families of their own, all from providing a simple outing.
“Making people happy and being part of their tradition, that's number one,” said Petiller.” It always has been, that's very special, being part of a family’s tradition, which is why we want to keep that tradition alive in Prince George.”
