The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Christmas for the Fishes program has wrapped up for the season, but people can still donate trees if they have them.
Tom Timmerman is Fisheries Biologist Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He said tree donations at the various hatcheries throughout the state are open year-round.
“People’s Christmas trees are five, six feet or greater so we say hey, just drop your Christmas tree off, we kind of know what we’re getting,” said Timmerman. “For the rest of the year, I prefer a phone call first to let us know kind of what you have, because I’ve gotten calls where somebody says, ‘Oh you know, I’ve got this great stuff and it’ll make great habitat’, and what it amounts to is, somebody was pruning up a tree.”
Timmerman said smaller pieces aren’t useful because they decompose too quickly for the fish to use, and that tree donations like those received in the Christmas tree program and from other donations are an essential part of maintaining healthy fish populations throughout the state.
Donations of Christmas trees poured in from people throughout the community.
“We’ve collected trees from several local businesses that have donated trees and Walmart’s and Lowes and those sorts of places just around the whole district, not just Morehead,” said Timmerman.
According to Timmerman, collected trees have been staged and will be entering the water once the weather allows him and his staff to do so.
He said Christmas trees make great donations because they give fish places to hide, but other materials also have the potential to make good habitats, such as cable spools and concrete blocks.
Timmerman said anybody who has something that would make for a good donation can call him at 606-783-8650 and he or one of the members of his staff will determine if the material is suitable for a habitat.