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
Lake Bono – Boat Ramp Access
Lake Walcott – Crowley’s Ridge State Park Boat Ramp Access
Lake Charles – West parking lot at Highway 25 Boat Ramp Access
Lake Poinsett — Dam Access Boat Ramp
Batesville — Ramsey Slough Boat Ramp

Central Arkansas
Arkansas River – Riverview Park Access in North Little Rock
Lake Barnett – Reed Access
Harris Brake Lake – Chittman Hill Access
Lake Pickthorne – Holland Bottoms Access
Lake Overcup – Lake Overcup Landing
Cox Creek Lake – Cox Creek Lake Public Access
Lake Hamilton – Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery Access

West Central Arkansas
Lake Atkins (Pope County)
Lake Jack Nolen
Sugar Loaf Lake

East Arkansas
Horseshoe Lake — Bonds Access
Wynne Sports Complex Family and Community Fishing Pond

Southeast Arkansas
Cook’s Lake – Potlatch Cook’s Lake Nature Center
Bus lot across from Grand Avenue United Methodist Church in Stuttgart
AGFC Regional Office at Monticello – 771 Jordan Drive
Connerly Bayou Boat Ramp- Lake Chicot

South Arkansas
Camden – AGFC Regional Office on Ben Lane, next to the National Guard Armory
Upper White Oak Lake – Upper Jack’s Landing
Magnolia – Columbia County Road Department Yard on Highway 371
El Dorado – Union County Fairgrounds

Southwest Arkansas
Millwood Lake – Millwood State Park ramp on the point
Dierks City Pond – Main parking area
Rick Evans Grandview Prairie – Nature Center
Hope – AGFC Regional Office on U.S. Highway 67 East
Lake Dieffenbacher – Bobby Ferguson Park Pavilion, Texarkana

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