SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (WBC/DANA COMM.) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Carlyle Lake are looking for live Christmas trees for the annual Christmas Tree Recycling Project. These fish shelters provide breeding areas, resting places, and protection. They give young fish much needed living spaces where they can feed on plankton and avoid being preyed upon by larger fish. The protection provided by the trees allows for a large number of fish to grow to maturity and ultimately provide more fish for anglers.

Doug Wasmuth is a Natural Resource Specialists with the Army Corp of Engineers. He says Christmas trees provide effective and economical fish habitats.

If you are interested in volunteering to help place Christmas trees in the lake in the spring, contact the Carlyle Lake/Kaskaskia Navigation Project Office at (618) 594-2484 or if you’d like to donate your tree, you can take it by that same office.

The Rend Lake Project Office/Visitor Center is also looking for live Christmas trees to be used for fish habitats. According to a Facebook page post, the Mt. Vernon collection site will be open through this Thursday, and Rend Lake sites will continue collecting until January 15th for those who would like to contribute their live Christmas trees. The trees will be used this spring to replenish the fish attractors in Sandusky Cove.