Shared by Chief Ranger Tanya Hall, as Guest Blogger.

The presents have all been opened, the food all eaten, maybe there is a pile of snow outside, and you really want your living room back. You have a live tree, so now what? Do you throw it in the backyard to create a little place for the birds and small critters to hide out? Do you burn it and roast some hot dogs over it? Both are great ideas, but we have a better one.

After the holidays, remove the decorations from your live tree and bring it to Hungry Mother or Fairy Stone state parks

We are asking you to recycle your old Christmas trees by bringing them to Hungry Mother or Fairy Stone state parks after the holidays. All the ornaments, hooks, tinsel and any other decorations need to be removed from the tree before bringing it to a park.

The trees will be tied off to cinder blocks and submerged in the lake to be used as habitat for fish. Due to the ages of Hungry Mother and Fairy Stone lakes, there are not any natural structure left at the bottom of the lakes for fish and other wildlife to find places to live and hang out.

All the old trees and stumps have decayed and rotted away. So each year Hungry Mother State Park, in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Resources and students from Grand Valley State in Michigan, and Fairy Stone State Park place trees in desirable locations to help create artificial habitat for fish and other aquatic animals. 

Your live tree will be tied to a cinder block so it will sink to the bottom of the lake

Trees getting ready to be taken out on the lake

Resting on the bottom of the lake, the discarded tree branches provide shelter and a little hiding space for the various fish that live in the lake. They also use the trees for nesting areas to rear their young, and smaller fish use the branches to hide from larger fish. The branches even encourage a little algae growth that serves as food for aquatic animals.

Fish are more likely to congregate around these ”fish attractors,” which can make your fishing trip much more successful. As you are boating on the lake, look for these and other types of fish attractors. Some are made out of wood pallets, PVC pipes, plastic tubing, and other oddly shaped wood. Fish species that are most likely to use these attractors are bass species, crappies, sunfish, catfish, grass carp, muskellunge and walleye. 

Fish attractors can be created from Christmas trees, as well as wood pallets and other materials

So try dropping your line at a few of these great spots that encourage fish to congregate. While you are checking out the fish attractors, you also might also see some really cool bryozoans (microscopic aquatic invertebrates). Those are another article all in themselves. 

If you'd like to recycle your Christmas tree at Hungy Mother or Fairy Stone state parks, here's where and when you can go. If you have questions, please contact the park.

Hungry Mother State Park

• Phone number: 276-782-7400
• Drop-off location: Boat ramp off Mitchell Valley Road
• Deadline to donate: Feb. 29

Fairy Stone State Park

• Phone number: 276-930-2424
• Drop-off location: Forestry Toolbox
• Deadline to donate: Mid-January