Kentucky sinks 1,700 discarded Christmas trees in a lake to create homes for fish

Natural materials can provide shelter for aquatic life (Kentucky Fish and Wildlife photo) Thousands of Christmas trees that decorated homes during the holiday season have found a new purpose at the bottom of lakes in Kentucky. Around 5,000 trees were donated to a state-run recycling programme this year, with approximately 1,700 placed in Boltz Lake alone. The trees are being used to create underwater shelter for fish in lakes where natural hiding places have gradually disappeared.The effort is part of Christmas for the Fishes, a programme run by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Now in its ninth season, the initiative collects used Christmas trees and places them underwater to help maintain habitats for different fish species.According to a FOX19, the trees were collected after the last holiday season and distributed among lakes selected for habitat restoration. Boltz Lake, located in Grant County, received a substantial share of the donations.But why would a lake need thousands of Christmas trees? Many of Kentucky's lakes are artificial, and the trees and other wooden structures that once provided shelter for fish have slowly broken down. Without these struct...