A batch of old Cody area Christmas trees are getting a second life at a public reservoir south of Emblem.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cody Field Office and Wyoming Game and Fish Department partnered on the project in February to improve fish habitat at the Mayland Reservoir.

With temperatures hovering near zero, the group hauled dozens of Christmas trees across the frozen surface, placing them in strategic locations. Groups of trees —  collected through a recycling program sponsored by the City of Cody and Cody Rotary Club — were then tethered to concrete blocks which will sink, with the trees in tow, once the ice melts this spring.

“These sunken trees will provide important cover for fish and much-needed nutrition as the plant tissue decomposes, spurring the growth of algae which forms the foundation for the food chain,” BLM officials said in a news release. The agency noted that Christmas trees have long been recycled in water bodies that lack structure and changes in depth.

“It’s good to get some complexity to the habitat and it also helps attract fish,” said Joe Skorupski, a fisheries biologist with the Game and Fish. “That’s really the goal — to bring fish to these areas so people have good opportunities to find fish close to shore.”

The fish species present in Mayland Reservoir are largemouth bass, green sunfish/bluegill hybrid, yellow perch and tiger muskie. All are attracted to submerged trees, which concentrate them for angling, the BLM said.

Officials with the BLM and the Game and Fish say they hope to continue this project for years to come.

“We’re happy to partner with Wyoming Game and Fish to provide value back to Big Horn Basin anglers through the use of these trees,” said Brad Tribby, BLM fish biologist.

The agency said projects like this “are an essential component of the BLM’s mission to practice shared conservation stewardship on public land.”