By Carrie Stambaugh
ASHLAND Christmas time creates a lot of waste – torn wrapping paper, plastic packaging, and of course, that live Christmas tree, which is beginning to shed its needles even faster…
Instead of adding the tree to the pile of waste bound for a local landfill, consider giving it new life in a local lake.
The fisheries division of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is encouraging residents to take their trees to one of dozens of Kentucky lakes where they will be sunk to provide more cover for fish.
“As our lakes age, we need to replenish the woody habitat that rots away with time,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We need natural Christmas trees to construct habitat for fish to be placed in our 17 major reservoirs, our smaller state-owned lakes and even our small Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) lakes.”
“This habitat provides protective cover for all fish and nursery habitat for young fish; it attracts baitfish and algae grows on it, providing food for young fish and other aquatic organisms,” Ross said. “These structures also increase angler fishing success by providing productive structures for people to fish.”
A map of Christmas tree drop-off locations is posted on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website at fw.ky.gov. Drop off points in the Tri-State include locations in Morehead, Grayson, and in Prestonsburg.
The donated trees must be natural, clean and free of all ornaments, lights and tinsel.
“Only clean Christmas trees will be accepted at these drop-off locations”, said Ross. “We don’t want these sites to become a dump of unwanted materials.”
In addition to the Christmas trees, the fisheries division is also seeking donations of wood or plastic pallets, cinder blocks, 5-gallon plastic buckets, clean PVC pipe, wooden stakes and other materials that could be used to anchor or construct fish habitat. These materials must be approved by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. Please contact Joseph Zimmerman at (502)-564-7109 ext. 4473 to schedule a delivery or a pickup for these additional materials.
The habitat structures that will be placed in all lakes by fisheries personnel will be GPS marked with the coordinates published on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website at fw.ky.gov.
Fisheries workers place habitat in lakes on a small scale year round. Over the last several years on Kentucky, Cumberland and Barren River lakes, the fisheries division has conducted large scale habitat renovation, according to the department. Nolin River Lake, Green River Lake and Taylorsville Lake are slated to receive habitat renovations in 2012.
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