The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will take Christmas trees that people drop off, tie them into bundles and anchor them with concrete blocks. They’ll then submerge the trees in Lake Thurmond and Lake Hartwell.
This creates a fish habitat, said Cheri Pritchard with the Corps of Engineers.
"It creates a shelter and attract bugs and stuff that the fish feed on," Pritchard said. "And those little fish, of course attract big fish. And the big fish, of course attract the anglers. So, those habitats that we create actually benefit the fish and then they ultimately benefit the anglers too."
Anglers can also pick up trees from drop off locations to take to their favorite fishing spot, as long as its out of the main navigable channels and away from private docks.
"The [drop-off] locations are at the boat ramps at Hartwell and Thurmond and they're open to the public," Pritchard said. "And they just need to make sure that the tree doesn't have any decorations or lights or tinsel or anything like that left on it."
That also means only real trees are acceptable.
"We can't take artificial trees or wreaths or, you know, yard debris or stuff like that," Pritchard said.
Trees can be dropped off on Lake Hartwell through Jan. 26 and on Lake Thurmond through Jan. 14 at these locations:
Georgia
South Carolina
