Christmas, a Christian holiday celebrated across the world, has been viewed as a happy and positive holiday. With gifts given and received, carols throughout the streets, and lights galore, it’s hard to see this holiday has a burden. However, for the small town of Astoria, Christmas has caused all but joy.

A small town in Oregon, called Astoria, has always had a great Christmas holiday, with their trees lit up. However, when one company, JieKe Wood Product Co., decided to use Astoria as their foresting grounds, it caused chaos. The China-based company harvested over 120 million trees for lumber in preparation for their annual Chinese New Year, a holiday that requires the burning of firewood in celebration, and over 40 million trees for US buyers as Christmas trees. These two holidays combined meant that over 160 million trees were removed from the area around Astoria, Oregon in a matter of two months.

Astoria, Oregon now has their population being harmed from a lack of oxygen. The state has called all of the 10,500 residents to evacuate to Portland. However, being as small of a town that it is, about a quarter of the residents did not have a car and the state did not provide any transportation. This has left nearly 3,000 residents to suffer in the area. So far, 137 deaths have been reported from suffocation due to a lack of oxygen. While another, 424 are hospitalized. It is unknown how many others are dying or are dead since the hospital stopped accepting new patients. The only supply of oxygen is now through Amazon, a company that does not offer fast shipping to the small, secluded area.

We talked to the CEO of the lumber company, Andy Zhen, reaching out for an explanation or a plan of action. This is the reply we received: “情况不是我们做的。居民必须注意周围环境。我们不对造成的损害负责。” This roughly translates to: “The situation is not of our doing. It is the residents who must pay attention to their surroundings. We are not responsible for the damage done.” With the company earning $230 million for this destruction, what will be done to stop their plans? Will Trump ban chinese logging companies? Will the small town ever recover? Only time will tell.

Photo Credit:

Astoria Before and After – A reader of ours who goes by BeachcombersNW.

Logo – JieKe Wood Product Co.