Enjoying Outside - Recycling Christmas Trees for Aquatic Wildlife

Kristie Ehrhardt • January 9, 2025


Many of the houses in my neighborhood have sad, once-loved Christmas trees lying in the gutter waiting for the “claw” to come pick them up. Green-wasting your post holiday tree is a great idea, it’ll either be composted or run through a chipper and used as ground cover at a school or park but there are other, productive ways to recycle it too!

 

Recycling your holiday tree for aquatic wildlife is a creative and rewarding way to provide habitat for fish and other aquatic wildlife. Various agencies collaborate on local and national projects to enhance and improve aquatic habitat. Collected trees are weighted down with cables and submerged to provide habitat for fish and other aquatic wildlife. The submerged trees provide spawning habitat and refuge for young fish by furnishing hiding spots from predators and shade from sun. The sunken trees also supply a place for algae and tiny aquatic invertebrates which are a food source for the young fish and larger invertebrates. By supplying habitat for young and smaller bait fish, larger fish are attracted to the areas and may upgrade your favorite fishing hole.

 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife Fish Habitat Technicians collect discarded Christmas trees that will be used for underwater structures in waterways for aquatic wildlife. The gaps between the branches of the upcycled trees provide shelter for young fish and attract larger fish which creates more exciting opportunities for anglers. Fish find and occupy the underwater structures very quickly after they’ve been introduced indicating that they appreciate them. The California Conservation Corps (CCC) teamed up with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and a Chico Boy Scout troop to create several new fish habitat structures near Lake Oroville and Thermalito Afterbay that used over 1,500 donated recycled Christmas trees. Projects and partnerships such as this have been happening for over 30 years throughout California.

 

Some other Northern California projects include fish habitat structures in Juanita, Orr and Trout Lakes from trees collected in Alturas and Yreka as well as a project in Green Springs Reservoir in Modoc County from trees collected in Siskiyou County. The City of Chester is also working on a project in Lassen County. Farther south, Riverside County also works with CDFW to collect trees from county landfills to be used for local fish habitat enhancements.

 

And it’s not just being done in California. The Alleghany National Forest in Pennsylvania has been recycling and submerging Christmas trees since 1983 and has recycled nearly 20,000 trees in the Alleghany River. The recycle program in the Wayne National Forest in Ohio collects over 240 Christmas trees and ties them together in bundles to enhance habitat in local lakes. The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin has used Christmas trees to provide fish habitat for many years and the Hoosier National Forest in Indiana has placed trees in five local bodies of water to improve fish habitat.

 

The trees need to be free of decorations, lights and any flocking but people seem happy to help by dropping their retired trees off at designated locations rather than plopping them in the street. The trees would have ended up in the landfill or a wood chipper and by upcycling them as fish habitat it not only gives the trees another purpose, it helps aquatic wildlife and those enjoying the outdoors as well.


-Kristie Ehrhardt (kehrhardt@tuleyome.org)

Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager

RECENT ARTICLES

By Nate Lillge August 6, 2025
Bill Grabert is stepping down from his position as treasurer on Tuleyome’s volunteer Board of Directors – we thank him for his many years of service! Bill first joined Tuleyome as a staff member in 2016. His nature-based teaching influenced many youth over the years with school field trips throughout the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region, from Redbud Trail to Conaway Ranch. As part of Tuleyome’s team of instructors for the California Certified Naturalist program, Bill inspired adults to care for the region. His love of the area began as soon as he graduated from college and began working as a geologist in Lake County. Bill has devoted his diverse knowledge and skillset to care for, steward, and enjoy California’s northern Inner Coast Range Mountains for many years. He will be missed on the Board but we look forward to seeing him on the trails! -Nate Lillge (Adventures and Engagement Director)  and Lyndsay Dawkins (Volunteer Tuleyome Board President)
By Bryan Pride August 6, 2025
Fifty-eight and a half million acres of America's wildest forests have been protected for nearly 25 years by the Roadless Rule, a conservation cornerstone that could soon disappear. Established in 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RACR) , more commonly known as the Roadless Rule, designated "Inventoried Roadless Areas" (IRAs) across our nation's forests, prohibiting new roads from being built. Now, USDA Secretary Rollins wants to rescind it . From Alaska to California, the losses from this rollback would be massive. In Alaska, 92% of the Tongass National Forest could lose protection, threatening one of the world's most pristine ecosystems and the indigenous communities who call it home. California would lose protections across 4.4 million acres spanning 21 national forests , which has the potential to impact treasured places like Inyo, Shasta-Trinity, and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Rule Born from Necessity, Not Ideology The Roadless Rule traces back to 1998, when U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck saw the agency's vast road system as a major environmental and fiscal problem . To put this in perspective: the Forest Service maintains eight times more miles of road than the Interstate Highway System. The agency had too many roads to properly maintain for safety and environmental purposes, with poorly maintained roads contributing to erosion and other harms across national forests. The road maintenance backlog had ballooned to $8.4 billion while the agency received only 20% of the funding needed to maintain roads to environmental and safety standards. Dombeck proposed a moratorium on road construction in undeveloped forest areas across most of the National Forest System. The agency adopted an 18-month moratorium in February 1999 pending completion of an overall road management plan. Later that year, the agency undertook a rule making process to provide long-term administrative protection for roadless areas. The Forest Service conducted an extensive public involvement process that produced 1.7 million comments , with the majority favoring a strong national policy protecting roadless areas. The resulting Roadless Rule was not and is still not a blanket ban: it makes exceptions to allow access to non-federal land inholdings and pre-existing mineral leases, and allows logging to reduce fire risk, improve habitat or aid in the recovery of endangered species. What began as a fiscally prudent solution to an unwieldy road network became a cornerstone of forest conservation, one that Americans overwhelmingly supported then and continue to support today. The Administration's Claims vs. Reality According to USDA Secretary Rollins , the rule is “overly restrictive”, hinders fire prevention and responsible timber production, therefore the Rule poses “real harm to millions of acres of our national forests.” Rollins linked rescinding the Rule with Presidential Executive Order 14192, "Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation .” The reality is different. Rollins' claim ignores what's actually at stake. Roadless areas are essential ecosystems that provide clean air and water while keeping wilderness intact. They also serve as critical refuges for wildlife; 57% of America's most vulnerable species depend on roadless areas for habitat. For the 156 million Americans who visit national forests annually, these areas offer irreplaceable backcountry recreation experiences. Most strikingly, the administration's fire prevention argument is backwards. Scientific research reveals that 88% of wildfires are human-caused , and 95% of these fires start within half a mile of a road. Areas closest to roads experience 53% more fires than would occur by random chance. Less than 3% of wildfires start in wilderness areas more than a mile from roads. This research indicates that more roads through our forests are more likely to increase fires and would outweigh the effects of improving fire containment. While the administration claims roads improve fire response, fire management teams consistently identify inadequate resources and personnel shortages, not roads , as the primary barriers to effective wildfire management . Rather than building roads that increase fire risk, fire management experts advocate for investing in cultural and prescribed burns, fire mitigation and forest restoration, proven approaches that are underfunded but key to preventing future fires and reducing fire magnitude. What's Next? Rescinding the Roadless Rule will require a public comment period that has yet to be announced. This is when we can all share our views. Tuleyome will be following this issue closely and will be commenting. For more information on the Roadless Rule and how to participate in the public comment process or other advocacy opportunities, contact B ryan Pr ide .
By Kristie Ehrhardt August 6, 2025
The short answer is honestly, pretty much anywhere! Because the 344,476 acre Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (the Monument) is located in the rural areas of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties you will have a great view of the dark night sky, free from urban light pollution from virtually anywhere within its boundaries! The Monument is an easy drive from not only the metropolitan Sacramento area but also from the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the North Bay communities making it an easy day trip. If you’re here especially for the Perseid meteor shower though it might be a very long day since best viewing happens between the hours of midnight and early morning. If you’re adventurous and up for an all-nighter, be certain to pack plenty of water and snacks and be sure to pull over only where it is safe and you’re not blocking a road, especially when it’s dark. Also always keep safety in mind and look out for wildlife as the Monument is home to black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, tule elk and bobcats that may be traveling through the area as well. If you’d like to stay a night (or several), there are multiple developed campgrounds to choose from inside the Monument boundaries. If you’re up camping, check out The Blue Oaks Campground, Indian Valley Campground, Hunting Creek Campground, Deer Valley Campground, Lower Nye Campground, West Crocket Campground or Kowalski Camping area just to name a few of the sites available for overnight stays. Before you go though, please do check with the United States Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management websites for details on the particular camping area you’re interested in as well as current conditions, requirements and fire restrictions. The Monument also offers primitive camping in the three wilderness areas located within the Monument boundaries. Cache Creek Wilderness, Cedar Roughs Wilderness and Snow Mountain Wilderness present nearly unlimited opportunities for dispersed camping or backcountry camping (areas located outside of designated campgrounds). Although camping is allowed and encouraged, these areas have no amenities such as tables, toilets, available water or waste removal and require you to pack out all trash and waste. There are no motorized vehicles allowed within Wilderness areas and they provide places for deep solitude with nature. Camping in Wilderness areas or other dispersed camping areas require visitors to understand and follow the Leave No Trace principles of outdoor recreating as well as planning ahead and knowing the area and what to pack. That said, other than the trees potentially blocking some of the night sky, you’re sure to avoid urban light pollution and have an unobstructed view of the night sky from practically anywhere within the Monument! -Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org ) Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager