MAHOMET — After picking out your perfect Christmas tree and bringing it home, you probably carefully decorated it with shiny ornaments from days gone by, new ornaments you bought at a local store and items the children made in their art class.

After you’ve received several weeks of enjoyment from the evergreen, you probably don’t want to just send it to the curb.

Your tree can provide a lasting Christmas present to others who need it, like the fish at Homer Lake or Lake of the Woods.

The Champaign County Forest Preserve District is accepting used Christmas trees to be recycled following the holiday season as part of its Treecycle program.

The trees may be dropped off at three forest preserve locations in Champaign County through Jan. 20, including:

— Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve in Mahomet, inside the maintenance entrance on Illinois 47.

— Middle Fork River Forest Preserve in Penfield, at the maintenance building.

— Homer Lake Forest Preserve in Homer, in the maple grove area.

Trees will be accepted at the Homer Lake location between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. The other two locations will accept trees at any time.

District spokesman John Baker said the forest preserve district will use the trees in one of two ways.

Many trees will be sunk into the lakes to provide fish habitat. Other trees will be chipped and placed around plantings throughout the forest preserve district’s 3,899 acres.

For more information, call 586-3360 or visit the district’s website at http://www.ccfpd.org.

Meanwhile, the city of Champaign’s Christmas tree collection program will run from Jan. 2 to Jan. 13. This collection is available for all residential properties within the city limits, providing an opportunity for residents to recycle their natural Christmas trees for free.

Residents are asked to place their tree within four feet of the curb by 6 a.m. on their scheduled collection date. The map and schedule for collection may be found online at http://ci.champaign.il.us/departments/public-works/residents/yard-waste-.... For more information, call 403-4777.

Trees are also accepted at the Landscape Recycling Center, 1210 E. University Ave., Urbana, for free disposal during the month of January. For more information, call 344-5323.