TU is working with conservation parnters in Tennesee to reintroduce native brook trout in Little Stony Creek.
Editor’s note: TU volunteers are in the news every single day. Here are just a few examples of how TU’s volunteers are making fishing better this week.
The Doc Fritchey Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Pennsylvania is about to break ground on an ambitious stream restoration project on a wild trout stream in Lebanon County, and once it’s done, Snitz Creek’s native brook trout will have a fighting chance at a long-term future.
The project, funded by grants from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, will improve in-stream habitat for native fish, remove noxious weeds, improve bank stabilization and provide a hard-pan crossing for livestock. The project will cost $171,300.
“This is a continuation of improvements in an impaired watershed,” Doc Fritchey Chapter President Russ Collins told Outdoor News. “The project will greatly improve the quality of the water when the entire project is finished. It was a high-priority area in terms of working on some of the tributaries that feed into the Quittapahilla and marks the beginning of our chapter’s efforts in the complete restoration of the watershed.”
Here are some other examples of how TU volunteers and staffers around the country are making fishing better for everyone:
- There’s a proposal in the works in Utah to build fish passage around a hydroelectric dam on the Weber River. TU’s Paul Burnett notes how the dam blocks migration for the Weber’s unique Bonneville cutthroat trout. It’s complicated… but promising.
- TU’s Appalachian chapter is working with the Tennessee Aquarium to release hundreds of young, native brook trout back into their traditional habitat, Little Stony Creek on the Cherokee National Forest.
- In Alaska, another financial backer of the controversial Pebble Mine has walked away. TU has led the opposition to Pebble for more than a decade.
- TU’s partnership with Upslope Brewery in Boulder, Colo., continues to pay dividends, particularly for thirsty anglers. The brewery just introduced a new summer ale, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Trout Unlimite.
- Trout caught in an urban stretch of the Saluda River near Columbia, S.C., will have to be released thanks to TU’s efforts to lobby the South Carolina Legislature. The area is the site of a new river walk expansion, and with spawning trout known to live in that stretch of the Saluda, catch-and-release fishing will help protect the population.