Oregon Park Recycles Christmas Trees to Help Salmon

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — A park in Oregon is collecting old Christmas trees to make the new year a little brighter for young salmon in Colewort Creek.

The Daily Astorian reports  that the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park will collect the trees until Jan. 16, when park staff and volunteers will place them in the creek to provide additional habitat for aquatic life like juvenile coho salmon.

The event, called Cocoa and Coho, is in its third year. The park collected about 75 trees last year.

Park biological technician Jenny Bell says the trees create a whole ecosystem in the creek. Within a few days, the Christmas trees are covered in algae, which attracts insects. Then the insects attract salmon.

Bell says it's a place where juvenile salmon can come to fatten up before heading to the ocean.