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Reusing Christmas trees provides underwater habitat in Berlin, Milton
Reusing Christmas trees provides an underwater habitat
DEERFIELD
Locally collected Christmas trees are being reused to harbor fish and benefit anglers at Berlin Reservoir, Lake Milton and other large Northeast Ohio lakes.
The trees, which will provide shelter and shade for fish, are being placed this month along the lowered winter shorelines.
When the water level is raised to summer-pool elevation, the trees will be under 6 to 8 feet of water, said Dan Wright, a state fish management technician.
“There’ll be good fishing around these trees probably in the middle of May to the beginning of June,” Wright said. “We consider them as fish concentration structures” that help anglers catch more fish, he added.
“These Christmas trees are ideal for structures for anglers. They draw in fish. They create their own little unique environment,” said Matt Wolfe, state fisheries biologist.
“First and foremost, these are for the anglers. We’re putting them in there for anglers to find fish, to catch fish and decrease that time between bites,” Wolfe said.
The tree locations are easily accessible to anglers, whether they are in boats or on the shoreline, Wright said.
“Fish need something to associate themselves with,” Wright said. “During their spawn, they’ll come up and find these trees. They’ll hide in them. They basically make a Christmas tree their home.”
The trees, which are now visible above the lake surface, have been placed just south of the U.S. Route 224 causeway along the east shore of Berlin Reservoir in Berlin Township, Mahoning County; off the state’s Bonner Road boat launch ramp in Deerfield; and in front of the Ohio Division of Wildlife office and shop adjacent to that ramp.
Weighted down with concrete blocks, the trees attract all types of fish at all levels of the food chain, Wright said. The trees last about three years as fish habitat, he added.
Some 2,000 trees were collected from Mahoning County Recycling Division (Green Team) collection points and from unsold stock from various Christmas-tree sellers.
Day-reporting Mahoning County jail inmates provided free labor as they loaded the trees onto trailers at each collection point and unloaded them at Berlin Reservoir.
With its primary purpose being flood control in the Mahoning, Beaver and Ohio rivers, Berlin Reservoir has an 11.5-foot difference between its normal summer and winter surface elevations.
An Army Corps of Engineers lake, Berlin also serves as a recreational lake and as a backup domestic-water supply for the Mahoning Valley.
Using the trees as fish habitat is preferable to having them unnecessarily consume landfill space, Wright said.
The grinding of Christmas trees in recent years produced a surplus of mulch, he added.
Jim Petuch, Mahoning County recycling director, noted that grinding the trees into mulch consumes more fuel and is more labor-intensive than underwater reuse.
“It a great reuse,” he said of placement of the trees in lakes as fish habitat. “It’s saving energy and resources, and I’m very happy about that,” he said of the underwater reuse of the trees.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, has also placed trees in recent years in West Branch and Mosquito lakes and other major Ohio lakes, Wolfe said.
Besides the trees, ODNR has used wooden pallets and recycled utility cable spools to create fish habitat in Ohio lakes, he said.
Wolfe reminded anglers that Ohio fishing licenses, which are required for fishing in the state’s public waters, expire Feb. 29 and must be renewed for this year at a cost of $19 for Ohio residents, $40 for nonresidents.
The licenses may be purchased at major sporting goods and outdoor supply stores or online from ODNR at www.ohiodnr.com, Wolfe said.