Recently, Metroparks’ employees have been busy sinking the hundreds of live Christmas trees the park has been accepting for recycling. While Christmas tree recycling usually brings to mind the use of a woodchipper and mulch production, evergreen trees are especially useful as an underwater habitat for fish.
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Providing these feeding and refuge areas for fish is of particular importance at Eastwood Lake due to its lack of surrounding forest, which would have supplied fallen trees to serve this purpose. The regional manager of conservation for Metroparks’, Grace Dietsch, was quoted by Miami Valley News as saying:
“It also gives the public a way to repurpose their trees and enriches Eastwood Lake’s ecosystem — a win-win for nature and the community.”
Sinking discarded Christmas trees in the lake was first undertaken by Metroparks in 2019, at which time over 700 trees were submerged. This year the trees will be bundled in bunches of two or three with each bundle bound to cinder blocks before being deposited in the lake.
According to Metroparks, the sunken trees will have no effect on boating but will grow shoreline fishing opportunities.