CORNWALL, Ontario – Have you got a Christmas tree that has overstayed its welcome – or nearly so?
The Raisin Region Conservation Authority is seeking donations of real Christmas trees again this year to help with a fish habitat restoration project within the agency’s watershed.
Norm Genier, a forestry specialist with the RRCA, said in an interview a similar project took place last spring at Camp Kagama in South Stormont where the trees were used to strengthen the shoreline.
“They provide temporary protection to the bank until other vegetation can take hold,” he said. “Obviously there is lots of erosion going on.”
Genier isn’t sure where the next project will take place but said if more than the 50 or so trees that were donated last year come in, a larger area of shoreline will benefit.
The RRCA offices on County Road 2 near the Grey’s Creek Conservation Area will reopen Jan. 2 and trees can be dropped off at that locale.
The practice of recycling natural Christmas trees is not new. In Ottawa the trees are dropped off at Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge, where a dozen or so goats will feast on them.
Alternatively, natural Christmas trees are picked up by the City of Cornwall Jan. 5 to 16 as part of weekly waste collection. Leave the tree, along with your household garbage, at the end of your driveway on the day your trash is picked up.
