The Christmas Mountains are a series of rounded peaks in northern

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, at the headwaters of North Pole Stream and the

Little Southwest Miramichi River The Little Southwest Miramichi River is a river in Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada. In Mi'kmaq it is referred to as "Tooadook". This river has its origins at Gover Lake in the Miramichi Highlands, part of the Appalachian Mountain ...

, west of Big Bald Mountain, and south of

Mount Carleton At 817m, Mount Carleton, in Mount Carleton Provincial Park is the highest peak in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and the Maritime Provinces. It is one of the highlights of the Canadian portion of the International Appalachian Trail. ...

. The mountains, in part, separate the

Miramichi River The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'kma ...

watershed from the watersheds of the Serpentine River and the

Nepisiguit River The Nepisiguit River is a major river in northern New Brunswick, Canada, which enters the sea at the city of Bathurst, into the Nepisiguit Bay, part of the Bay of Chaleur. Nepisiquit River Bay, brook, and falls. Appears in Jesuit Relations (1 ...

. In 1964, Arthur F. Wightman named the range and peaks after noting that the previously unnamed peaks lay near the source of North Pole Stream, hence this sub-range of the

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

has been named after the Christian holiday of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. The ten peaks are: * North Pole Mountain () () * Mount St. Nicholas () () * Mount Dasher () () * Mount Dancer () () * Mount Prancer () () * Mount Vixen () () * Mount Comet () () * Mount Cupid () () * Mount Donder () () * Mount Blitzen () () The eight latter names commemorate

Santa Claus's reindeer In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The number of reindeer characters, and the names given t ...

as named in the 1823 poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas" by

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...

. The poem reads in part:

With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!

Although a ninth reindeer was later added to

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

' team in the popular

song "

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

", no peak was named for Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all".

Clearcutting controversy

Until the mid-1990s, the Christmas Mountains remained untouched by industrial forestry operations. As

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...

, the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources administered the property as part of a vast swath of forest across the north-central part of the province. With few roads leading into the area, the Christmas Mountains maintained an

old growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

Acadian forest The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the des ...

that was unique to northeastern North America. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources leased the property comprising the Christmas Mountains to a U.S. owned pulp and paper company Repap (the name is the word "paper" reversed). Repap began building logging roads into the region around 1995 and began an aggressive

clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fores ...

operation over the next several years, despite numerous vocal and radical protests by New Brunswick-based

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

s who feared the consequences of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and the loss of the

old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

. Despite the efforts, the Christmas Mountains old growth forest was largely logged by the end of the decade.1996 Rio Report Card - New Brunswick
,

Sierra Club of Canada Sierra Club Canada (SCC) is a Canadian environmental organization. Terry A. Simmons incorporated the Sierra Club BC in 1969, affiliating the local organization with the Sierra Club of the United States. Several members of the club were prominen ...

References

{{Mountains of New Brunswick Mountains of New Brunswick Mountain ranges of New Brunswick Landforms of Northumberland County, New Brunswick Mountains of Canada under 1000 metres