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.
Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119 or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.
TREE RECYCLING
- Home Depot store, 520 North Belair Road, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
- Riverside Middle School in Evans, 4785 Hereford Farm Rd., open through Tuesday
Comments
How many trees can they put in a lake with low water? There's got to be a limit. The lake is not a dump; or is it? And then if the lake refills, you'll get your hook stuck in a tree because they put them in the shallows. Why don't they drag them out to deep water?
They don't drag them out to deep water because tiny and baby fish don't live there. The lake is more than large enough to handle the volume of trees placed in it and trees that are not needed or should not go in are chipped for mulch. It is troubling to think about the number of cinder blocks being placed down there as it does make you wonder if the blocks contain caustic or toxic chemicals, or are they actually safe for the lake and its inhabitants. And what about wire being used to bundle the trees? Shouldn't the Corps require these trees be bundled with a rope that will eventually decay and not cause a problem for fish and boaters?
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