INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana wildlife officials say Hoosiers should think twice before they toss their discarded Christmas tree into a nearby lake as a way of creating create habitat for fish.

Chief fisheries biologist Brian Schoenung of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources says Christmas trees placed into lakes “provide cover but don't necessarily grow more fish.''

The DNR says discarding of a Christmas tree on a private pond is at the owner's discretion, but state laws require a license from the DNR to construct or place a fish attractor in a public freshwater lake.

The DNR says a better use for a discarded Christmas tree is taking its to local recycling site, putting it in your backyard to provide winter shelter for birds and other wildlife, or chopping it up for firewood.