T-L File Photo Sterling Brumfield, left, wildlife specialist with the Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District, and Logan Ambrister, Belmont County wildlife officer, tie weights to donated Christmas trees to help them sink into a pond as the ice melts.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District is asking residents to donate their Christmas trees for its annual Holiday Habitat program.

Real trees can be dropped off from Dec. 26 to Jan. 26 behind the Belmont Soil and Water office, located at 130 W. Main St. in St. Clairsville.

Hannah Ulrich, administrator of the district, said this is the fourth year for the program. She explained that each year, the discarded trees are used to create wildlife habitats.

“Some of them will be sank in ponds to create fish habitats for nesting and for them to lay their eggs in because some species lay their eggs in brush piles underwater, and then some of them will be made into brush piles in different wildlife areas for rabbits, squirrels and birds and all sorts of little fun, cute creatures to live in throughout the winter,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich said the trees will be taken to a wildlife area within Belmont County, but she did not know exactly where the trees would go.

“It’s just based on which partners of ours want them. What we do is we wait to see how many trees we get, and then we try to figure out where we’re going to put them because it varies every year,” she said.

She said that last year the trees supported wildlife at Barkcamp State Park and at Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. Ulrich said the district has also taken trees to Salt Fork State Park in previous years.

Ulrich said anyone who would like to donate should look for the sign behind the office with information about exactly where to place the trees. She said there will be a trailer behind the office. People can drop off their trees at any time.

Ulrich asks that people make sure they take all ornaments, lights, tinsel and other artificial materials off of the trees before dropping them off.

Ulrich specified that any donated trees must be real trees, not artificial ones.

“I know that sounds silly to say, but people have dropped off artificial trees before. We can’t use those. That’s littering,” she said.

Last year the Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District deemed its Holiday Habitat program a success after collecting about 75 Christmas trees. Around 50 trees were donated in previous years.

“We’re just really excited to see it grow. It grows every year, and we’re excited to see how many trees we get this year,” Ulrich said.

Last year, some of the trees were attached to cinder blocks and placed on frozen ponds. Once the ice melted, the trees sank to the bottom to provide a vertical structure that gave fish a safe place to nest.

For more information, contact the Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District at 740-526-0027 or belmontwildlife@gmail.com or visit the Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District Facebook page. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.