LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is accepting donations of leftover Christmas trees to use as fish habitat.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has drop-off locations across Arkansas to let your old Christmas trees have a second life as underwater cover.
AGFC assistant chief of fisheries Jason Olive said the small spaces and dense cover offered by fresh Christmas trees make excellent nursery habitat for small fish.
“In ponds where we’ve sunk Christmas trees, we’ve seen increased growth in smaller fish,” Olive said. “Young bass, crappie and bream and baitfish all benefit from the cover, and larger gamefish will be attracted to the smaller fish.”
The AGFC said anglers are welcome to remove trees from drop-off locations to create their own fish attractors. Olive said using parachute cord and cinder blocks will help weigh the trees down.
“Sink groups of Christmas trees together,” Olive said. “Within two to three years, you won’t have much left except the trunks, but when we drained Lower White Oak Lake in Ouachita County recently, we saw several nice piles of Christmas tree trunks that were still good fish habitat after 12 years of being in the water.”
Trees should be clean of all ornaments, lights and tinsel before they are dropped off and artificial Christmas trees are not accepted.
Trees can be dropped off at any of the following locations until the end of January:
Central Arkansas
• Arkansas River – Alltel Access beneath the I-30 Bridge
• Greers Ferry Lake – Sandy Beach (Heber Springs), Devils Fork Recreation Area and Choctaw Recreation Area (Choctaw-Clinton)
• Lake Conway – Lawrence Landing Access
• Harris Brake Lake – Chittman Hill Access
• Lake Overcup – Lake Overcup Landing
• Lake Barnett – Reed Access
• Lake Hamilton – Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery Access Area
Northeast Arkansas
• Jonesboro – Craighead Forest Park Lake boat ramp
• Lake Dunn – Boat Ramp Access
• Lake Poinsett – Dam Access Boat Ramp
• Lake Walcott – Crowley’s Ridge State Park Boat Ramp Access
Northwest Arkansas
• Beaver Lake – Highway 12 Access and AGFC Don Roufa Hwy 412 Access
• Lake Elmdale – Boat Ramp Access
• Bob Kidd Lake – Boat Ramp Access
• Crystal Lake – Boat Ramp Access
Southeast Arkansas
• Lake Chicot – Connerly Bayou Access Area
• Cox Creek Lake – Cox Creek Lake Access Area
Southwest Arkansas
• Bois d’Arc Lake – Kidd’s Landing or Hatfield Access
• Millwood Lake – Cottonshed, White Cliffs Recreation Areas and the Millwood State Park ramp on the point
• Dierks Lake – Jefferson Ridge South Recreation Area
• DeQueen Lake – Any U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat ramp
• Gillham Lake – Any U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat ramp
• Lake Greeson – New Cowhide Cove and Self Creek Recreation areas
• Camden – AGFC Regional Office on Ben Lane
• Upper White Oak Lake – Upper Jack’s Landing
• Magnolia – Columbia County Road Department Yard on Highway 371
• El Dorado – City recycling center drop-offs: one behind Arby’s and one on South Jackson
• Smackover – Recycling Drop-Off Center (these will be transported to El Dorado)
• South Fork Lake – South Fork Lake Access
• Terre Noire Lake – Terre Noire Lake Access
• Hope – AGFC Regional Office on Hwy. 67 East
