Have you thrown out your Christmas tree yet?<!—->.

Thursday, January 04, 2001

Have you thrown out your Christmas tree yet?

If not, then the Wayne National Forest would like to recycle that old tree, and help its lakes in the process.

The forest service is collecting trees until the end of January. The trees will be sunk into one of two lakes to make fish habitats.

"We like the Christmas trees because they are really branchy," said Becky Ewing, fisheries biologist for the Wayne. "It serves all sizes and shapes of fish. Algae will grow in them, and it will feed the bugs that the fish will eat."

Ms. Ewing said that a tree will last underwater for many years, so the national forest won’t need to create a new habitat for the fish for 15-20 years.

"One of the lakes that we’ll be putting trees in is Canton Lake (Pumpkin Town Lake) in Gallia County," she said. "We drained the lake to make repairs on the dam and it looks like the inside of a bathtub."

Ms. Ewing said that the lack of hiding places there hurts fish because they need places to hide while they spawn. The habitats also provide places for baby fish to hide from bigger predators.

The trees will also nurture algae. The algae is important for the fish because it feeds the bugs that they eat.

"You could see what the lack of cover did for the fish when we drained Canton Lake," Ewing said. "There weren’t that many fish in the lake."

Ms. Ewing said that the forest service will place the trees in Canton Lake before filling it again.

"We’re going to be able to walk down the lake bed and put the trees where we want to on the bottom," Ewing said.

The other lake where Christmas trees will be used is Timber Ridge Lake in Lawrence County.

Anyone who would like to drop off a tree may leave it at the Ironton ranger station parking lot at any time through late January. All ornamental tinsel must be removed from the trees.

Ms. Ewing said that the national forest also needs volunteers from local sporting clubs to help sink the trees.