CHRISTMAS TREE DISPOSAL WON'T BE AS EASY

The chore of discarding the Christmas tree after the holidays might not be as simple this year.

While the task in past years involved little more than dragging the tree to the curb along with other garbage to be taken to the city landfill, a new solid waste law now prohibits such disposal of the trees.

Known as Senate Bill 530, the law prohibits Christmas trees and other yard waste from being placed in landfill.

But Doug Kaminskey, Cape Girardeau's environmental services coordinator, Mark Boone, fisheries management biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, and Michael McClendon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said they are prepared to ease the Christmas tree disposal problem.

"There are several environmentally sound disposal methods for Christmas trees," said Kaminskey. "One of them is mulching the tree for use as a landscaping mulch, which may be used in a garden or planting beds."

Perhaps one of the most popular recycling methods is to dump the trees into fresh water ponds and lakes for fish habitat, said McClendon and Boone.

"Fish use the trees for nesting and places to search for food," said Boone. "We'll be placing as many as 200 trees in Lake Girardeau this year."

The regional DOC office at Cape Girardeau will receive many of those trees collected in the city.

Kaminskey said the city will again collect the trees at curbside, but only by appointment and on three dates, Jan. 8, 15, and 22.

"These trees will be placed in the southeast corner of Arena Park," he said, where people also can drop off the trees.

"Trees will be accepted there from Dec. 30 to Jan. 10," he said, adding that the Department of Conservation will take many of them.

"And, if there are any farmers out there who want trees for their private ponds or wildlife brush piles, they can take as many as they want," Kaminskey said.

"What's left, the city will chip up into mulch, which will then be available to the public."

Kaminskey said the mulching process is a slow one.

"We can place a whole tree into the mobile wood chipper," he said. "But, it's takes a good while to mulch the tree."

In past years, the DOC also has placed trees in Boutin Lake at Trail of Tears Park.

"This year, we'll be placing the trees around the fishing docks at Lake Girardeau," said Boone. "Christmas trees improve fish habitat. The trees attract fish of all sizes for a number of reasons."

He said small fish eat the aquatic insects that find a home in the tree branches. The fish also use the dense trees to escape from larger fish. As a result, the fishing in the lake or pond improves.

Boone said it was easy to prepare the trees for use as a fish attractors.

"You can take a 50-pound concrete block and wire four or five average trees to it and just sink them," he said. "We usually place four to five groups of trees near each other, and we sometimes place double trees, side by side."

The Corps of Engineers will seek Christmas trees from throughout Southeast Missouri to provide fish shelters in Lake Wappapello, near Puxico, and at Clearwater Lake, near Piedmont.

"We'll be picking up trees from several locations for the Wappapello shelters," said McClendon.

Sites include Wal-Mart stores at Dexter and Malden; American Super Store, Poplar Bluff; People's Bank at Greenville; Puxico High School; and Redman Creek Boat Ramp and Sundowner Marina, both on Lake Wappapello.

Trees to be used at Clearwater Lake may be left at Piedmont Park Boat Ramp; Ward's Food Mart in Ellington and Piedmont; Phillip's Food Mart in Annapolis and Ralph's Supermarket in Piedmont.

Christmas trees also make excellent material for wildlife brush piles said Paul L. Roth, professor of forestry at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. "The brush piles provide cover for small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles," he said.

"They use the brush piles as shelter from predators, or as a place to nest and raise their young."

Brush piles are easy to assemble using a number of trees to fill gulleys or bare spots near field borders, he said.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources suggests another use for the trees, although it is not a permanent one.

"People can decorate Christmas trees as a food source for wildlife," said a DNR spokesman.

After removing all decorations, the tree can be redecorated with food items that can be eaten by birds and squirrels. Such items may include strung popcorn, cranberries or pine cones smeared with peanut butter and sunflower seeds.

"The tree will have to be set up and secured so that it will not blow over with the first gust of wind," the spokesman said.

Not only will the tree provide a meal for wildlife during a time when food is scare, but it will also serve as a haven from the harsh winter winds. Watching birds and wildlife as they are feeding will be a continued source of delight for the entire family, the spokesman said.

The DNR warns people not to burn trees in a fireplace or wood stove while they're green, as the resins in the green tree can lead to a flue fire.