Trout Unlimited applauds additions to Pennsylvania Wild Trout lists

CONTACTS:

David Kinney / Mid-Atlantic Policy Director, Trout Unlimited

dkinney@tu.org / 856-834-6591

Mark Taylor / Eastern Communications Director, Trout Unlimited

mtaylor@tu.org / 540-353-3556

(Jan. 25) HARRISBURG, Pa. Trout Unlimited applauds the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissions vote this week to add sections of 132 streams to the Commonwealths growing lists of Class A Wild Trout Waters and Wild Trout Streams lists.

TU also welcomes the Commissions announcement of a Wild Trout Summit to be held in the summer of 2017 in Pennsylvania, said David Kinney, TU’s mid-Atlantic policy director.

“This will be an opportunity to celebrate the Commonwealths healthy populations of naturally reproducing brook, brown, and rainbow trout, and to discuss how to protect these fish going forward,” Kinney said.

Since 2011, TU has been collaborating with the Commissions Unassessed Waters Initiative to help identify previously unclassified stream sections that hold wild trout.

Trained survey crews led by TU staff based in Lock Haven, Pa., use electroshocking gear, which temporarily stuns fish, to survey more than 100 streams annually in Pennsylvania. The crews identified 25 of the streams that were included in the most recent additions to the Wild Trout Streams list, as well as three streams added to the Class A Wild Trout Waters list.

The wild trout streams identified by TU survey crews were in the following counties: Monroe (11 streams); Potter (5); Schuylkill (5); Clearfield (2) and Northampton (2).

The Class A streams that were initially identified by TU are Fallentimber Run (Cambria County), Flanigans River (Cambria County), and an unnamed tributary to Kratzer Run (Clearfield County). Those three streams represent a total of 6.6 miles.

The presence of wild trout populations indicates that these are waters of exceptional quality. Trout streams are not just recreational resources for sportsmen and economic boons to local businesses; they also feed into Pennsylvanias drinking water supplies.

These streams are given special protections during the DEP permitting process under Pennsylvania regulations (25 Pa. Code Chapter 93). Wild trout streams receive a Cold Water Fishes (CWF) designation, which requires their protection as trout habitat. Wetlands in or along the streams floodplains are classified as Exceptional Value (EV).

Some of the streams may qualify for upgrades to EV or High Quality (HQ) designations, which further protect against water-quality degradation. This is a first step.

Trout Unlimited has 160,000 members across the country. Pennsylvanias 13,000 members, organized into 48 chapters, work to protect the Commonwealths thousands of miles of wild trout water.

To learn more about TUs work with the Unassessed Waters Initiative, or for more information about media opportunities to participate in an electroshocking sampling trip with TU science staffers in the summer of 2017, please contact David Kinney at dkinney@tu.org or 856-834-6591 or Mark Taylor at mtaylor@tu.org or 540-353-3556.