If picking out a fresh Christmas tree is part of your annual festivities, make sure you pad your pocket with a bit of extra cash this season. The U.S. is facing a holiday tree shortage this year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), which may run up prices for shoppers. The shortage can be blamed on the Great Recession the country faced, which began a decade ago. The economic downturn forced some farmers to limit their crops to save money during this time of decreased demand for discretionary items like trees. Christmas trees can take around 10 years to reach full size, so we’re only now seeing the impact the economic downturn had on the industry. “In those years, we were in a recession and tree sales were down, prices were down, and we weren’t planting as many trees,” Doug Hundley of the NCTA told News 12, Long…