Feed the fishes: Kentucky agency will recycle your Christmas tree

If you are wondering what to do when it’s time to take down your natural Christmas tree at the end of the year, those used trees can have a second life after the end of the holiday season.

Natural trees donated to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources annual “Christmas for the Fishes” tree recycling program can give a home to fish in many Kentucky lakes in the coming year. This annual program uses evergreens donated after the holiday season to create underwater habitats that help fish thrive.

“Donated Christmas trees are put to work in local reservoirs as fish habitat, where they’re arranged in clusters that create dense branches and small pockets for young fish to hide,” said Spencer Phillips, a fisheries biologist with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “These structures also attract sportfish, offering opportunistic feeding as smaller fish venture out from cover.”

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will be accepting evergreen trees from Dec. 26 through Jan. 16, 2026, at 37 drop-off locations across the state. Trees should be real, not artificial, and should be free of lights, garland and decorations. Limbs, wreaths, brush or other plants will not be accepted.

(In Hopkinsville, there will be a drop-off at Walmart on Clinic Drive.)

Fish thrive in an environment that is full of different types of cover including trees and logs. The donated trees will help restore woody structures that have previously decayed in our lakes, providing protective cover and shade for a variety of fish species.

“Every tree counts,” Phillips said. “Each tree can provide benefits for local fisheries for several years, gradually enhancing fish habitat that has been lost over time. Local anglers also benefit from the creation of reliable fishing hotspots around the sunken brush piles.”

Donated trees will be anchored to environmentally friendly weights and submerged at various depths in different lakes and reservoirs across Kentucky to provide places for fish to feed, shelter and spawn. They make great refuge and feeding habitat for game fish, as well as small fish and invertebrates that are crucial for a thriving ecosystem.

For more information about the Christmas tree recycling program or to find a drop-off location, visit the department’s website (fw.ky.gov) or call 1-800-858-1549, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET) weekdays, excluding holidays.

This story is republished with permission from the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Read the original.

Tom Latek has been the Frankfort correspondent for Kentucky Today, the online news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, since 2016. Previously, he covered news for radio and television stations in Frankfort, Lexington, and Louisville.