ELKINS — A West Virginia attorney and world champion lumberjack, along with a longtime Monongahela National Forest employee, harvested the 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from Monongahela National Forest in Randolph County on Wednesday

Arden Cogar Jr. is a lifelong Mountain State resident whose family is well-known for its association with the timber industry for six generations, and has had a strong presence in lumberjack sports for more than 60 years.

Cogar has won 55 individual world titles in lumberjack sports, four U.S. Stihl Timbersports Series Championships, and many state and national championships.

Cogar 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,” Cogar said. “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.”

Monongahela National Forest’s Ron Polgar has worked as a biological technician and is well-known as an expert botanist. He has worked in the Monongahela National Forest for 46 years, longer than any other employee.

During the Vietnam War, Polgar served aboard the USS Chicago in the Gulf of Tonkin as a radarman. He 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,” Polgar said. “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, Polgar has coordinated the Forest’s saw program since 1990. He trains both chainsaw and crosscut sawyers and is known to meticulously maintain all tools.

The two experienced sawyers used 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 provided 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 kickoff event in Elkins on Saturday, stopping in communities along the way before it is delivered to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The harvest is being shared online at https://www.facebook.com/MonongahelaNF and https://www.facebook.com/USCapitolChristmasTree.

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.

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.