Hundreds of Christmas trees will be ground into mulch today during Columbia County's annual recycling event. Also, the Army Corps of Engineers plans to gather its own stockpile for use as fish and wildlife attractors at Thurmond Lake.

Christmas trees will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Home Depot store, 520 N. Belair Road, according to Jenny Hinton, Keep Columbia County Beautiful coordinator.

As part of an annual "Bring one for the Chipper" event, those bringing trees will be offered a choice of mulch or tree seedlings, while supplies last.

Trees can also be taken to Riverside Middle School in Evans, where a donation site will remain open through Tuesday.

The corps will use those trees to build fish attractors in areas accessible to bank fishermen.

Piles of trees will also be available at selected boat ramps for anglers who wish to build and sink their own artificial reefs. For details on where to pick up trees to build personal fish attractors, contact the lake's resource manager's office after Jan. 15 by calling (800) 533-3478.

Fish attractors are usually made by bundling multiple trees together with rope or wire, weighting them with cinder blocks and sinking the assembled reef in 10 to 30 feet of water.

Tiny fish use the dense tree material for cover and protection against larger fish, and larger fish are attracted to the trees by the smaller fish hiding there.