CORINTH, Ky. — David Baker watched as trees splashed into the water.
“This is kind of like a dump truck for the lake,” he said.
Baker laughed with his colleague because that’s not the boat they’re on.
“This one’s not as fun,” he said. “We don’t have a cool button.”
And that means Elijah Holcomb needs to throw Christmas trees tied with cinder blocks into the lake. One by one. For hours. On this day, and the next.
“I’m just getting warmed up,” he said.
WATCH: Step onto the boat with KY wildlife workers for "Christmas with the fishes"
Baker drives their boat to a different spot on Corinth Lake in Grant County. He points to a device showing where he’s buried trees before.
“The natural material that's here is decomposing and has went away — so what we’re trying to do is put some of that back,” Baker said. “Christmas trees are an easy way for us to get a lot of material really fast.”
Each year, Americans throw away about 15 million Christmas trees. A lot of them end up in landfills. In Kentucky, the wildlife department is trying something different by throwing thousands of donated trees into state lakes.
They say it keeps the lake healthy — and makes for better fishing at the same time.
“I guarantee you that it works,” Baker said with a laugh. “There’s been a lot of bluegill and bass caught off of these on my personal boat.”
Back on the boat ramp, Nick Keeton moves around cinder blocks. Other workers cut string and tie tree limbs together.
“We’re basically building pyramids,” Keeton said. “And the goal is for them to stay nice and straight.”
They call them buffets for fish.
Over the course of three days, this team from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources will drop about 1,400 trees into this lake. They had to wait so long to do it because the lake was frozen with prolonged cold temperatures.
But now, their boat is empty. And for the next few weeks, they’ll take the rest of their trees to other lakes across Kentucky. Holcomb stands at the edge of the boat covered in tree needles.
“The gift that keeps on giving!”
….
Officials with the Christmas for Fishes program are no longer accepting tree donations, but if you’re still looking for a way to get rid of your tree there are mulching programs hosted by city and county waste disposal teams.
Fishing coordinates can be found on the department’s website for lakes across Kentucky.
