Used Christmas trees needed for AGFC’s Habitat for the Holidays program

Used Christmas trees needed for AGFC’s Habitat for the Holidays program

LITTLE ROCK — After the holiday cheermeister calls an end to a season of tinsel, lights and carols, the fate of many real Christmas trees is a gloomy trip down the garbage chute to Mount Crumpit, or the nearest landfill. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a second, far more meaningful life for these one-time-use evergreens as crucial underwater habitat for Arkansas's fish populations.

The Natural State is full of fantastic water to wet a line and enjoy a day of angling, but the natural cover available in some lakes has grown quite “grinchy” — perhaps two sizes too small. The addition of a few firs or cedars left from your holiday cheer can add cover for fish and create a fishing hot spot you won’t need a 39-and-a-half-foot pole to reach.

The AGFC has set up a network of locations where anyone can drop off their used trees to help Christmas … perhaps … mean a little bit more.

Once submerged in lakes and reservoirs across the state, the donated trees provide immediate benefits:

Refuge: The dense network of branches offers small game fish and baitfish critical protection from larger predators, which helps more of them survive and grow.

Dining Hall: As these trees decompose, they become a buffet for algae and aquatic insects, which fuel the base of the aquatic food web.

Fishing Hot Spots: Larger fish like bass and crappie are drawn to this new cover to hide and ambush prey, bringing excellent angling opportunities with them.

Unlike Dr. Seuss' famous Santa impersonator, the AGFC can't take the trees "tinsel and all"; donations should be stripped of all lights, ornaments and other decorations before being dropped off. Artificial trees also cannot be donated because the plastic they are made of is not designed to be submerged and could leach harmful chemicals into the water.

Trees are free for any angler to use for habitat. AGFC biologists recommend tying cinder blocks or sandbags to the trees with paracord to weigh them down. The cord will hold the trees down until they are waterlogged and settle on the bottom.

Anglers planning to sink any materials in lakes or rivers should call the lake owner beforehand to make sure placing habitat is allowed. Some water-supply reservoirs and other lakes have regulations to prevent placing brush without permission.

Biologists also recommend sinking multiple trees at each location. Christmas trees don’t have many thick branches and deteriorate quickly, but clusters of the main trunks can offer a year or two of woody cover.

Trees can be dropped off at any of the following locations until the end of January:

Northwest Arkansas

Beaver Lake – Highway 12 Access, AGFC Don Roufa Highway 412 Access and Monte Ne Boat Ramp Access

Lake Elmdale – Boat Ramp Access

Bob Kidd Lake – Boat Ramp Access

Crystal Lake – Boat Ramp Access

Lake Fayetteville — Boat Ramp Access

North Arkansas

Bull Shoals Lake – Any U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat ramp

Norfork Lake – Any U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat ramp

Northeast Arkansas

Jonesboro – Craighead Forest Park Lake Boat Ramp