By: Dave Thompson

BISMARCK, N.D. (Prairie Public) – You may be wondering what to do with your live Christmas tree, when the holiday is over.

You might be thinking of giving it to the North Dakota Game and Fish department, for use as fish habitat.

But Game and Fish stopped taking trees several years ago.

Fisheries chief Greg Power says they used to use several trees to make “Christmas Tree reefs.” That was tried in certain lakes. But Power says Game and Fish found out these were not very successful as habitat. And Power says it takes a lot of work to put a Christmas tree reef in.

Power says trees will float, so cement was used to keep the trees down. He says you can still see some remnants of the reefs built in Lake Audubon.