Effort will help improve fish habitats
In Gilmer County’s lakes, there are hundreds of Christmas trees.
And having them there is good for the fish, Keep Gilmer Beautiful Chair Terril Carson said.
“It helps the fish habitat grow,” he said.
Old Christmas trees are a perfect habitat for fish in local lakes.
The reason comes from the structure of pine trees.
“They work well because of all the branches. You can basically start a habitat inside that pine,” he said. “It’s kind of like a reef environment.”
A program by Keep Gilmer Beautiful, Friends of Our Beautiful Carters Lake Inc., Lowe’s and the Army Corps of Engineers helps put these trees in Carters Lake where they can serve as habitats.
For the last 10 years, Keep Gilmer Beautiful has worked to put trees in local lakes. Lowes has helped out since 2017.
Without this practice, the trees will most likely go into landfills, burn or be dumped in the woods, Carson said.
“It’s a great concept to be able to repurpose them,” he said.
To prepare the trees, Lowe’s drills holes through the trunks of the trees and ties them together with a special cord that’s safe for use in the lake.
Then, the trees are sunk into Carters Lake.
This procedure makes sure the trees stay in one place instead of floating around or remaining in view.
“I have no idea what it looks like,” Carson said. “I’d love to go SCUBA and check it out.”
Those who want to add their Christmas trees to the pile can drop them off at a trailer in the Lowes parking lot, located at 380 Highland Crossing. Other drop-off points will be announced in detail soon on social media and the Times-Courier, Carson said.
People can drop off their trees from noon, Friday, Dec. 26 to Sunday, Jan. 11.
Before the trees are dropped off, people should remove all lights and ornaments.
If anyone has questions, they can contact Keep Gilmer Beautiful at keepgilmerbeautiful.georgia@gmail.com.
Those without a real Christmas tree can help keep the county beautiful in other ways.
Often, Christmas celebrations generate a lot of garbage, Carson said. To help the environment, it’s often better to use a gift bag than to use wrapping paper, he said.
“I always love when something can be repurposed or reused, especially when it has to do with nature and fish,” Carson said.