Fremont County residents will have a chance to put their Christmas trees to good use after taking down the ornaments and lights.
Each January, area anglers collect Christmas trees and sink them to the bottom of Ocean Lake to create a better habitat for walleye, crappie and yellow perch living there.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department Fisheries Biologist, Paul Gerrity, says the lake is pretty flat at the bottom.
“There’s not a lot of structure in Ocean Lake that provides good habitat for fish, so by sinking Christmas trees in the lake, it gives fish some structure to hide in or to forage in. It’s good habitat for juvenile fish to escape from predators.”
Gerrity says the landscape around Ocean Lake is pretty barren, so the Christmas trees take the place of branches and other plant debris that would otherwise blow in and accumulate along the bottom.
Residents can drop off their real, un-tinsled trees at the Lander and Dubois Landfills or the Riverton bale station.
