Many Arkansans will soon begin disposing of their Christmas trees, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) is asking that instead of throwing them away, they be donated for future use in fish habitats.
The AGFC annually takes donated trees and submerges them in lakes and reservoirs across the state. Why, you may ask?
The donated trees provide critical refuge for small game fish and baitfish from larger predators, which helps them grow and survive.
Also, as the trees decompose, they become a food source for algae and aquatic insects, which fuel the base of the aquatic food hub.
And to the fisherman’s benefit, larger fish like bass and crappie are drawn to the new cover to hide and ambush prey.
However, it’s best practice to strip your tree of tinsel, lights, ornaments and other decorations before being dropped off.
Artificial trees cannot be donated because the plastic they are made of is not designed to be submerged, and it could actually leak harmful chemicals into the water.
Before randomly dropping off a tree, anglers are urged to tie cinder blocks or sandbags to the trees with paracord to weigh them down and contact the local lake owner to make sure placement is allowed. The cord will hold the trees down until they are waterlogged and settle on the bottom.
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.
