Iris and bark beetle cancel Xmas tree sale

If you decided to go au natural and get a real Christmas tree for your living room this year, you better make sure you get permission first. According to a release from the Forestry Department, they will not be selling trees this season due to the effects of Hurricane Iris in the southern plains and the southern pine bark beetle in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. However, people intent on hacking down a pine tree can do so in specific areas of the north and you must buy a permit from the district forest office in Orange Walk or Belize City before you go jumping into the bush. Permits cost eight dollars per tree. No permits will be granted in the south in order to give the trees that have survived, a chance to regenerate.