FOND DU LAC COUNTY (NBC 26) — The holiday season may be over, but don't throw out that tree just yet! Local fishing clubs use the Christmas staple as a way to mark trails and warn fishers of dangerous ice.
- Local fishing clubs use Christmas trees to mark trail and warn fishing enthusiasts about unsafe ice.
- The trees are collected at the end of the season, but do not damage the environment.
- Video shows fishing club members describing the practice.
Mitchell White with Friendship Fishing Club member said the discarded trees from stores and local households are placed every tenth of a mile to mark trails and help ice fishers navigate.
"When we place it, we'll try to tip the tree towards the shore," White said. "So, if you are disoriented, can't see, it's dark, it's a white out, whatever, you can have some indication of you know which way is shore."
Which Quinney Fishing Club member Mark Ecker said can be important when out on the lake.
"When you're out here or snowstorm and you can't see nothing, you at least come across the tree line," Ecker said. "You'll see what way they're tipping, and you know what way to head."
But when you see a downward tree, stay away. Ecker and White said they use this to indicates dangerous ice.
"For marking problematic areas, that's huge," White said. "Especially if you're on a four wheeler, snowmobile, side by side, whatever, and you're going at a rate of speed, maybe it's dark, maybe it's kind of a white out condition, and you see trees that are down, you know, right off the bat, 'hey, I got to steer away from this area.""
But why Christmas trees?
"They're not going to harm the environment," White said. They're not going to harm the wildlife, the fish, anything like that. So it is okay if a few of them get away from us. Again, we try not to do that. And they're a zero cost item"
The fishers said they're still waiting for the ice to be deep enough to place the trees, but people looking to donate their trees can drop them off at their headquarters.
Friendship Fishing Club is asking people to drop off trees at N8751 Lakeshore Dr. in Fond du Lac, and Quinney Fishing Club is accepting trees at W5604 Quinney Rd, in Chilton.
