One can make 2025 a happy year for Kentucky’s fish, by donating natural Christmas trees to the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ “Christmas for the Fishes” tree recycling program.
Efforts by the organization require donated evergreens after the holiday season, in order to create underwater habitats to help fish thrive.
Spencer Phillips, fish habitat biologist, noted the idea is to “light up” fishing opportunities by improving habitats in 19 public lakes. Natural Christmas trees donated through the program, he said, will be bundled and dropped in the lakes to provide aquatic cover that fish need to survive.
Trees will be accepted from December 26 through January 15 at 33 drop-off locations. Trees should be real, not artificial, and should be free of lights, garland and decorations. Limbs, wreaths, brush or other plants will not be accepted.
In western Kentucky, families can visit the Western District Fisheries Office in Calloway County at 30 Scenic Acres Drive, in Murray. The contact: Adam Martin, 270-753-3886.
Fish succeed in an environment that is full of different types of cover including trees and logs. The donated trees will help restore woody structures in lakes that decay over time, providing protective cover and shade for a variety of fish species.
Donated trees will be anchored to environmentally friendly weights and submerged at various depths in different lakes and reservoirs across Kentucky to provide places for fish to feed, shelter and spawn, because they make great refuge and feeding habitat for game fish, as well as small fish and invertebrates that are crucial for the ecosystem.
The locations where trees are installed generally become hot spots for fish species targeted by anglers, and these locations are recorded by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff and the GPS coordinates made available to anglers through the “Lakes with Fish Attractors” page on the department’s website and FishBoatKY app, available on the iTunes App and Google Play stores.
For more information about the Christmas tree recycling program or to find a drop-off location, visit the department’s website (fw.ky.gov) or call 1-800-858-1549, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET) weekdays, excluding holidays.
