EBTJV Southeast December 2008 - Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture

Eastern Brook Trout
JOINT VENTURE
The quarterly newsletter of the EBTJV
Southeast
Division
DECEMBER 2008
Editor’s Notes
Sorry for stealing “Page 1” for my editor’s notes. I wanted to use it to inform
everyone about the changes to the newsletter, procedure and new tools that
will help us work and share our efforts more efficiently and professionally.
The past 6 weeks have been busy for me. I started by getting the mailing list
into a database format so I can make updates easily, email the newsletter and
requests for submissions and keep in touch with everyone. If you have council
elections or changes in positions or I’ve missed someone, please let me know.
I plan to keep this as up-to-date as I possibly can.
I then designed the new “look” for the newsletter. I tried to make it look professional, informative and easy to read. I’m hoping that all of you will see it the
same way and it will inspire you to submit more of the great information I’ve
seen in our newsletter before. You’ll also notice that I’ve added links to all the
url’s and email addresses contained in the newsletter. You just need to click on
them to send an email or visit a website. As always, I’m open to suggestions
and new ideas so feel free to send them to me at [email protected].
I also took the advice of NLC reps and created a Google Group for the EBTJV.
In This Issue:
Editor’s Notes................ Page 1
Georgia.......................... Page 2
South Carolina............Page 3-6
Tennessee.................. Page 7-9
Virginia.................... Page 10-12
It’s a site where we will have a forum for discussions, a place to upload and
post files/documents/newsletters and send a reminder to the entire group.
Hopefully this open up broader lines of communication throughout the EBTJV.
You can easily apply for group membership by clicking the tab on the right
side of http://groups.google.com/group/ebtjv. I urge you to visit it often… I
have a feeling that this will be a useful tool for the EBTJV.
Enjoy the Newsletter and our Google Group — Happy Holidays!
by Bill Oleszczuk
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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Georgia
Steam Projects in 2009
Restoration
Two barriers were constructed in 2008 – one on Tate
Branch and the other on Stover Creek. These barriers will
prevent rainbow and brown trout from migrating upstream
into brook trout habitat. Restoration work is planned for
We are committed though our Eastern Brook Trout Joint these streams.
Venture (EBTJV) grant to focus on habitat enhancements
in several watersheds. Plans are being made to build
structures on the following stream utilizing both interns
and GA Trout Unlimited volunteers.
We expect that Back-the-Brookie, GA DNR and USFS will
concentrate on multi-chapter projects in 2009. We were
very successful in 2008 fielding large volunteer crews to
build stream structures.
Hiawassee River Watershed:
Gurley Creek, Joel Creek, Henson Creek, Big Net Branch,
High Shoals Creek, Mossy Cove Branch, Gizzard Branch
Little Tennessee River Watershed:
Thomas Creek and Ramey Creek
Stover Creek
Stover Creek is our primary restoration project. GA TU
Chattooga River Watershed:
Back-the-Brookie to supporting Gold Rush and Oconee
Holcomb Creek, Ammons Creek, Walnut Fork Creek, and River TU’s lead on this initiative. The Chapter’s were
Bailey Branch
awarded a TU Embrace-A-Stream grant for the project.
To date, a natural barrier on the lower end of the creek
was enhanced with a raised cap to prevent rainbow and
Tallulah River Watershed:
brown trout from moving upstream into brook trout terriNorth Fork Moccasin Creek, Howard Creek, Little
tory during high water events. A total of over forty stream
Persimmon Creek, and Persimmon Creek
structures are planned to improve habitat. Fifteen were
completed in 2008.
Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture
For the third time, GA Trout Unlimited, GA DNR and USFS
have teamed to submit for EBTJV grant funding. This time
for $25,000 from the EBTJV matched by $85,000 of inkind contributions from GA TU and its partners in Backthe-Brookie. The grant continues enhancement of stream
habitat and restoration of wild brook trout.
by Kevin McGrath
[email protected]
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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South Carolina
Conservation:
3) The SC Council of TU submitted a final report to National
TU in November on brook trout restoration in Crane Creek
(see attached report), the second stream that the SC
Partnership restored as part of the Eastern Brook Trout
Joint Venture Program. Briefly, southern Appalachian
strain brookies were established in Crane Creek after
non-native trout were removed. The introduced brookies
were monitored for two years and both adult and youngof-the-year brookies were found. The Partnership now has
restored the southern Appalachian brook trout to King
Creek and Crane Creek, and wild “mixed-strain” (northern
x southern hybrids) brook trout to Tamassee and Carrick
Creeks.
1) A SC Department of Natural Resources team and several Trout Unlimited volunteers electroshocked Carrick
Creek in Table Rock State Park in early November to
determine if wild “mixed-strain” brook trout were still present after an initial stocking in September, 2006. Both adult
and young-of-the-year brookies were found in the upper
flats of this small creek where the stocked brookies were
released. The upper reaches of Carrick Creek are suffering badly from the severe long-term drought that has
plagued the northwestern portion of South Carolina for
years. The good news on Carrick Creek is that we discovered that some of the stocked brookies (fish up to 9-10
inches were found) had moved downstream into the steep
gorge and were reproducing in this section of the stream.
We feel that, if the drought continues as predicted, the Education and Partnering:
brook trout that were introduced two years ago will have Landowners who own property adjacent to brook trout
a better chance to survive in the gorge pools than in the streams in the state is being prepared so they can be
invited to a field trip on a brook trout stream in the spring
smaller water upstream in the flats.
of 2009. During the field trip, landowners will hear inforThe South Carolina partnership (SCDNR; US Forest mation about the status of the brook trout and efforts
Service; SC Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism; to bring the southern Appalachian strain of the species
SC Wildlife Federation; and SC Council of TU) is encour- back to some semblance of its former extent. The goal of
aged that Carrick Creek is capable of supporting wild the meeting will be to make private landowners aware of
brook trout in the presence of a severe long-term drought. land-use practices that could hurt brook trout populations
Carrick Creek flows beside a Nature Center where we and to encourage them to be partners in the brook trout
plan to display brochures and posters about the status restoration program in South Carolina.
and restoration of brook trout. Now that there is a selfsustaining population of wild brook trout within easy walking distance, the Nature Center will be an excellent site for FINAL REPORT OF PHASE 2 —
distribution of educational material about brook trout.
2) The SC Council of TU submitted an Embrace-A-Stream
proposal to National TU, in partnership with SCDNR,
to evaluate habitat of potential brook trout streams in
the Jocassee Gorges of South Carolina. The Jocassee
Gorges is a wild and scenic 43,000 acre tract in the
mountains of South Carolina. The area contains a dozen
or more streams that once supported brook trout but
which now are believed to be devoid of the species. The
idea behind the proposal is that streams that have suitable
brook trout habitat, or which can be made to have suitable habitat, will be stocked with southern Appalachian
strain brookies. When this is accomplished, the native
brook trout will occupy headwater streams of all major
drainages where they originally occurred in the state.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
RESTORATION OF NATIVE EASTERN
BROOK TROUT TO CRANE CREEK,
SUMTER NATIONAL FOREST,
SOUTH CAROLINA
INTRODUCTION
In Phase 1 of the restoration of brook trout in South
Carolina, our partnership (South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, Clemson University, South
Carolina Wildlife Federation, and South Carolina Council
of Trout Unlimited) restored the native strain of brook trout,
i.e., the Southern Appalachian brook trout, to King Creek.
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This headwater stream is a tributary of the Chattooga
River, a major recreational trout fishery on the border
between South Carolina and Georgia. Electroshockings
that followed the initial stocking and a later supplemental stocking of brook trout have shown that King Creek
now has a sustainable population of adult and young of
the year native brook trout and that there are no nonnative trout species competing with the brook trout in the
restored stream. Phase 1 was financed, in part, through
an Embrace-A-Stream grant of $9,050 from National Trout
Unlimited and we judge it to have been highly successful.
Now, in Phase 2, the Chattooga River Chapter (#556) of
Trout Unlimited, acting on behalf of the South Carolina
Council, has used a second Embrace-A-Stream grant
($6,250) from national TU in February, 2006 to support federal and state agency efforts to restore native
brook trout in Crane Creek, another creek on the Sumter
National Forest. The goal of this two-year funded project was to restore native brookies to about 2.5 miles of
a stream where native brookies had been extirpated by
improper land-use practices and introduction of nonnative trout (including a northern strain of brook trout) in
the last century.
Figure 1. TU volunteers and SCDNR employees take a
break after a morning of brush clearing on Crane Creek.
After brush removal, about 2.5 miles of the creek was
electroshocked by SCDNR and USFS crews, with assistance from six TU volunteers. The mixed-strain brookies,
i.e., offspring of crosses between stocked northern strain
brookies and the native brookies that originally occupied
the stream, were captured and placed in stream cages.
METHODS
These wild brookies were then transferred by TU volunCrane Creek once had a population of native southern teers and SCDNR technicians to two other streams where
Appalachian brook trout, but this was no longer the case they were released.
in recent years. To restore this stream to the native brook Brown and rainbow trout were removed from Crane Creek
trout, it would be necessary to remove non-native species using techniques developed and refined by Steve Moore,
and reintroduce native brookies.
Chief Fisheries Biologist in Great Smoky Mountains
Crane Creek was severely overgrown by rhodendron, National Park. After non-native species were removed,
mountain laurel, doghobble, and other species in 2005. about 250 pure strain Southern Appalachian brook trout
This over-hanging brush had to be removed before the from northeast Georgia were captured and stocked in
Crane Creek. It was believed that they would spawn in
stream could be electroshocked to determine the distribuCrane Creek later that season.
tion and extent of non-native species. Brush removal was
accomplished by 5 to 10 TU volunteers using bow saws, Another stocking of native brookies was conducted a year
axes, and lopping shears during six work days in March later to supplement the population. The creek was electroshocked about a year after each stocking of Crane Creek
–May, 2006 (Fig. 1).
to determine if the stocked fish were still present and if
they were reproducing.
The brook trout restoration process was publicized in various media during the past two years.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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RESULTS
Brush Removal and Electroshocking
In March - May, 2006, TU volunteers put in over 300 manhours clearing brush in and around Crane Creek (including both forks of the creek above Big Bend Road) so
that the stream could be electroshocked. Electroshocking
was needed to determine the extent and distribution of
non-native trout (rainbows, browns, and northern and
mixed strain book trout) in Crane Creek so they could be
removed prior to stocking pure Southern Appalachian
brook trout.
High waterfalls (Fig. 2) at the lower end of Crane Creek
served as a natural barrier to upstream migration of nonnative fish. Crane Creek is stocked with rainbow and
brown trout below these waterfalls, and if these species
could reach the restored section, they would become
dominant.
Removal of Non-Native Fish
In July, 2006, TU volunteers assisted SCDNR, USFS, and
Fish and Wildlife Service crews when they electroshocked
the creek to remove the non-native brook trout. About 150
of these mixed-strain brookies were transported to Carrick
Creek, a small stream in Table Rock State Park. TU volunteers toted these wild, but not native, brookies up the
Pinnacle Mountain Trail to a flat stretch of Carrick Creek,
which was barren of fish of any kind for unknown reasons.
Previous examination of the stream by both fishermen and
biologists had indicated that native brookies could probably survive and establish a sustainable population here.
Additional TU volunteers carried the remaining wild brookies from Crane Creek to Tamassee Creek, a stream that
already had a small population of wild mixed-strain brookies. Subsequent electroshockings will enable biologists to
evaluate the status of brook trout in those creeks.
After the non-native brookies in Crane Creek had been
removed by electroshocking, an antibiotic (antimycin,
trade name Fintrol) was used by fisheries professionals
to remove brown trout from the creek. Potassium permanganate was used to neutralize the antibiotic at the
downstream limit of the restored section of the creek. No
TU volunteers were used on this phase of the restoration
procedure.
Stocking of Southern Appalachian Brookies
In early Fall, 2006, 250 Southern Appalachian strain brookies were collected from northeast Georgia and stocked in
Crane Creek. Many of the transferred fish were in spawning condition and, in fact, did spawn. Electroshocking the
next year (July, 2007) showed that both adult and young
of the year native brookies were in the creek.
In October, 2007, SCDNR stocked more native brookies to supplement the initial stocking of Crane Creek.
In June, 2008, another electroshocking of Crane Creek
was conducted by SCDNR, assisted by TU volunteers.
More young of the year brookies were found indicating
that there were now at least three age classes of native
brookies in the creek. And this is in spite of extremely low
flows in Crane Creek. A severe long-term drought has
Figure 2. Waterfalls at lower end of Crane Creek prevent been affecting the upstate region of South Carolina for
upward migration of non-native trout into restored section. over three years and all streams and lakes in the area are
near or below record low levels.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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SCDNR and TU volunteers met with conservation/environmental leaders from Upstate Forever, Sierra Club,
The partners in this brook trout restoration project now SC Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, and SC
consider Crane Creek to have been successfully restored Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism on a
to native brook trout (Fig. 3). This conclusion is reached restored creek to discuss the brook trout restoration program in the state.
because:
1. The stream now has three distinct age classes of native TU volunteers wrote an article published in the Jocassee
Journal in the Spring/Summer issue about the brook trout
brookies.
restoration program in SC.
2. Reproduction of native brookies has been documented
The Alliance for Clean Energy produced a DVD about
for two consecutive years, and
global warming effects on South Carolina in which a TU
3. Trout habitat and especially nursery habitat has been volunteer briefly discussed the effects of a warming cliimproved by the addition of large quantities of coarse mate on the brook trout.
woody debris.
A TU volunteer maintains our website (http://scbrookie.org).
This second phase of the brook trout restoration program Quarterly updates on South Carolina’s BTB program are
in South Carolina has raised awareness of the brook trout’s published in The Eastern Brook Trout Newsletter
status in the state and demonstrated that the Southern
Appalachian strain of the species can be restored where Partners and Financing
the habitat is suitable. This successful project has demon- In addition to the $6,250 Embrace-A-Stream grant from
strated to the conservation community that Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited, this project received support from the
is a committed partner that is serious about protecting our various partners totaling over $24,000. Support included
cold-water resources.
consulting and personnel expenses from the National Park
Service, and contracting services to Clemson University
scientists. It also included volunteer labor from the South
Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the U.S.
Forest Service. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation
donated $500 to assist the project. Trout Unlimited volunteers contributed over 500 man-hours in labor and report
writing and other duties in 2007 and 2008.
Prepared by
BACK THE BROOKIE COMMITTEE OF SC
John Garton.................. Education Committee Chair
Vance Baird.................. Conservation Committee Chair
Figure 4. A Southern Appalachian brook trout, courtesy of Mark Szymanski........... Advancements Committee Chair
Richard Bernabe Photography.
Tom McInnis................. Immediate past SC Council Chair
David Van Lear............. SC Coordinator
PUBLICIZING THE PROGRAM
TU volunteers wrote an article for South Carolina Wildlife
Magazine about SC’s brook trout restoration program
which will be published in the Spring of 2009.
by David Van Lear, BTB Chair
Developed a poster about South Carolina’s brook trout
restoration efforts that was shown at a legislative reception at Table Rock State Park and at a meeting of the
Chattooga Conservancy in Clayton, GA.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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Tennessee
Troutfest
The Little River Chapter is planning a huge TROUTFEST
this spring with national speakers in conjunction with the
100 yr anniversary of the National Park System. They
have been great financial and volunteer supporters of the
Brook Trout programs in the National Park. Details will be
available in the next Newsletter.
The Tennessee Council along with the Great Smokey
Mountain Chapter donated matching funds to the National
Forest Service to purchase a new electro shocker for use
in monitoring Brook Trout populations in the Cherokee
National Forest. Several chapters assist the Forest Service
in their annual stream monitoring.
TU Plate Goal Achieved… We’ve Presold
1,000 + Plates!
November 14, 2008 – over the past few days, our database
has confirmed that Trout Unlimited has reached its goal of
1,000 presold plates. Many thanks to those individuals
and businesses who have worked incessantly over the
past 15 months to bring the TU plate into existence. This
will bring at least $17,500 to Trout Conservation projects
in Tennessee this year and we congratulate Dick Davis of
the Cumberland Chapter for his efforts in this effort.
Conservation effort to preserve good
ole’ Rocky Fork—Coalition acquires
property for $40 million
At 9,624 acres, the Rocky Fork tract in northeast Tennessee
is only a fraction the size of the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, but advocates say the property’s ecological value rivals anything in the Southern Appalachians.
For years, a coalition of conservation groups and local
residents have been working to acquire the privately
owned tract located near the Tennessee-North Carolina
line in Unicoi and Greene counties.
This week, The Conservation Fund and the U.S. Forest
Service purchased the property from New Forestry LLC
for $40 million. As part of the overall acquisition, the
Conservation Fund will eventually transfer its share of the
purchase - 7,387 acres - to the state of Tennessee.
The U.S. Forest Service acquisition of the remaining 2,237
acres will permanently protect 1.5 miles of the Appalachian
Trail that either crosses or borders the property.
Located 30 miles from Johnson City, Tenn., the Rocky
Fork tract is surrounded by national forest. The property’s
rugged mountains surround the headwaters of Rocky Fork
Creek, a blue ribbon trout stream that affords 16 miles of
habitat to Appalachian brook trout within the boundaries
of the property.
For generations, the Rocky Fork tract has been privately
owned but open to public hunting through a cooperative agreement with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency. Owners of the property recently began marketing
the land for ridge-top development, prompting a last-ditch
campaign to move the land into public ownership.
Over the last few years, the U.S. Forest Service has
ranked Rocky Fork as its No. 1 priority for land acquisition
in the United States. The tract is home to six salamander
species not even found in the Smokies and serves as one
of the most important black bear refuges in upper East
Tennessee. The tract adjoins more than 30,000 acres of
public lands. “It’s the last large piece of land left that’s
surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest and still
undeveloped,” said Bob Nichols, Region IV manager for
the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. “To get it into
public ownership where it can remain intact is very important to the people of East Tennessee.”
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and
The Rocky Fork watershed is pictured from Whitehouse the Appalachian Trail Conservancy were leaders in local
conservation efforts to protect Rocky Fork. About 5,000
Rock.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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acres of the tract can be seen from the Appalachian Trail.
The project drew strong political support from U.S. Sens.
Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and U.S. Rep. David
Davis, all Tennessee Republicans who secured funding
from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the U.S.
Forest Service’s share of the acquisition.
On the North Carolina side, the project was supported
by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and U.S. Rep. Heath
Shuler, D-N.C. On the state level, the Tennessee Heritage
Conservation Trust Fund contributed $6 million toward the
purchase.
As part of the deal, The Conservation Fund hopes to
negotiate a land exchange in which the U.S. Forest
Service would release some of its less strategic properties
into private ownership in exchange for additional Rocky
Fork property. “This is a local project, but one that has
regional implications,” said Rex Boner, vice president and
southeast representative for The Conservation Fund. “For
me, it’s significant to see how support crossed state lines
and political parties. This is a project for all people.”
Treatment with antimycin was initiated September 8, 2008
and was completed September 19, 2008. During the
project personnel from TN Wildlife Resources Agency,
N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission, N.J. Division of
Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
National Park Service staff from the regional office and
Yellowstone and Volunteers from the Little River Chapter
of Trout Unlimited assisted Great Smoky Mountains NP
fishery staff with the project. The project successfully
removed non-native rainbow trout from 8 miles of Lynn
Camp Prong.
A population of native black nose dace inhabited about
the first two miles of the project area. This presented a
unique challenge to project managers because the project could not eliminate these fish. Prior to treatment fishery
staff and their assistants collected as many black nose
dace as possible and placed them in holding cages in
another stream until treatment was completed. Once the
treatment phase was completed these fish were returned
Visit http://www.conservationfund.org for maps and more to the stream section from which they were taken.
information.
Aquatic insect data was collected by graduate students
Lynn Camp Project Overview
by George Lane from Tennessee Technological University prior to during
and after treatment. Additional samples will be collected
in March, June and August to evaluate the immediate,
short term and long term affects on the aquatic insect
community. Results from previous studies have demonstrated completed recovery of the community within four
to six months.
In May 2009 Park staff with assistance from TN Wildlife
Resources Agency and TU volunteers will survey Lynn
Camp Prong to insure all rainbow trout were removed
during treatment. In June, 2009 Park staff plans to collect
approximately 1,000 brook trout and return them to Lynn
Camp Prong.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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Treatment Area
Map of Lynn Camp Prong watershed, Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, including barrier falls and current brook trout distribution within the watershed. Red
lines indicate pure rainbow trout, blue pure brook trout,
and green mixed rainbow and brook trout. Natural barriers
are noted by dumbbell bars at lower Lynn Camp Prong,
Marks Creek, and lower Indian Flats Prong. Antimycin was
applied to all areas marked in red or green.
by Steve Moore
www.easternbrooktrout.org
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Virginia
Brook Trout Conservation
Shenandoah National Park (SHEN) crews received help
from many TU members throughout the summer as we
needed help with our regular monitoring schedule. We
were short staffed in Jim’s absence and had one crew
member out with a hernia and another with a tickborn
disease. - Thank You!
The SHEN fisheries crew and Paul Bugas (VDGIF) provided electrofishing demonstrations and fish identification
in warm and cold waters for the TU Tri-State Fishing Camp
at Graves Mountain Lodge in June.
The FWS Wild Fish Health Lab from Lamar, PA collected
fish health samples from five SHEN streams this year.
Most of the fish sampled were brook and brown trout but
also included blacknose dace and other non-game species. Typically they sample eight to ten streams for us but
funding is drying up for them.
We had a short stream clean up with the Winchester Jr.
B.A.S.S. club and collected almost a pickup load of trash
from Happy Creek in Warren County within the park in an
hour with 4 kids and 2 adults walking the streambed. Most
of this trash appears to be washing into the stream from
the Rt. 522 corridor. No wild brookies in this stream due
to high summer temperatures.
An important note that needs more
analysis...
In our highest monitoring site in the Rapidan River drainage we have never captured anything but brook trout in
the 17 years I have worked here until this past summer.
We ended up capturing five species in the site this year.
I speculate this is due to a rise in water temperatures.
Hemlock mortality is widespread in the drainage as a
result of hemlock wooly adelgid. The result has been
widespread riparian loss and fairly severe bank erosion
as these huge trees tear out of the banks when they fall.
Additional scour is being caused by huge debris dams
created by the finer hemlock branches becoming lodged
behind the massive trunks.
And, sad news... This year, I consider brook trout to be
extirpated from Lower Lewis Run in Rockingham County.
2004 was the last time brook trout were seen (two adult
females in one mile of stream) and extensive surveys conducted in 2006 and again in 2008 in Lower Lewis Run.
www.easternbrooktrout.org
No brook trout were seen or captured in 2006 or 2008
although blacknose dace, and macroinvertebrate populations have remained stable throughout the period. The
reason for this species loss is unknown. A few leads are:
trout over population and disease; drought; high water
temperature; 2003 fire reducing canopy cover thereby
increasing temperature; and the following fire suppression
tactics fire retardant dropped in stream (at least 2/3rds
of a air tanker load and possibly a second drop hit the
stream as well), water drawn from the stream for bladder
bags could have reduced the stream flow to zero (I have
not determined if the fire crews had pumps set up or not),
chainsaw bar oil in stream after removal of all in-stream
woody debris hampering oxygen transfer in an already
drought stressed aquatic environment. Lower Lewis Run
lacks connectivity with Upper Lewis Run due to a large
alluvial fan and subterranean flow, and to the Shenandoah
River due to a quarry.
Brook Trout Restoration
Shenandoah National Park (SHEN) employees electroshocked and donated close to 430 brook trout out of
Jeremys Run and the Conway River to reintroduce to four
project streams on private and state owned lands. Fish
were bucketed out of the park over one mile and transported to other streams in large aerated tanks. This work
was carried out by TU members and SHEN and VDGIF
employees.
Invasive Species Reduction
Good news! Exotic trout eradication efforts were re initiated in 2006 on three park streams for the first time since
1998. After electrofishing Brokenback Run for brown
trout reductions in 2006, no brown trout were found in
Brokenback Run the summer of 2008.
It was hard to coordinate in 2008, but we were able to
keep captured brown and a few rainbow trout alive in
holding pens and transfer them to VDGIF and TU to augment other warmer water brown trout populations outside
of the park. Of 468 exotic trout captured, approximately
370 were transferred to other existing brown trout populated waters. Young of the year fish mortality was high in
the pens, FWS personnel from the Wild Fish Health Lab
in Lamar, PA sampled approximately 50 whole brown
trout, and it was not practical to transport less than 50
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fish so fish captured on “slow” days were euthanized and
disposed of by protocol. Actual #’s were Hughes – 169
browns, 3 rainbows, and 2 tigers. Rose - 279 browns,
15 tigers. Brokenback - 0 browns. Special thanks to all
the TU members from many chapters who helped net,
bucket, and transport fish and Paul Bugas other VDGIF
staff and Front Royal TU for picking up live fish.
VA Game and Inland Fisheries in collaboration with the
USFWS harvested 100 brook trout from Dry River near
Harrisonburg as the first step in creating brook stock and
fingerlings for the eventual restoration of brookies in the
upper Shenandoah Valley.
David Demarest
Acting Fisheries and Wildlife Biologist
Shenandoah National Park
3655 U.S. Hwy. 211 E.
Luray, VA 22835
Phone: (540) 999-3500 x3439
Chapter installed two information kiosks at Grayson
Highlands State Park. Kiosks were funded jointly by
Churchill Homes and Appalachian Power.
VCTU is taking the first steps in developing a Southern
Brook Trout Restoration Strategy for the Roanoke, New,
Please note the new phone number. (540) 999-3500 will and Upper Tennessee river systems. We expect to hold a
now get you to anyone in the park, you can either voice in stakeholders planning session in Marion, Va. in January.
the name or enter the extension.
The Thomas Jefferson and our new Mountain Empire
Shenandoah Home Rivers Initiative
TU national has received a $174,000 grant from the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund the Shenandoah
Home Rivers Initiative. The SHRI coordinator was offered
and accepted the job last week.
by John Ross
Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study
Planning the third regional survey in 2010
The Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study (VTSSS) is
designed to track the effects of acidic deposition and
other factors that determine water quality and related ecological conditions in Virginia’s native trout streams. The
VTSSS began in the spring of 1987 when water samples
were collected from 450 (about 80%) of the mountain
headwater streams in Virginia that support reproducing
brook trout. Chemical analysis revealed that about 10%
of the sampled streams were acidic and about 50% were
sensitive to acidification. Following the 1987 survey, a
representative subset of streams was selected for longterm monitoring. This component of VTSSS now includes
65 streams that have been sampled on a quarterly basis
for 22 years. The current concept for going forward with
the VTSSS is to maintain the quarterly data collection to
support research and trend analysis, while periodically
conducting sampling surveys of the larger population
of streams to provide regional context and assessment
capability. A second survey was conducted in the spring
of 2000. We are now proposing a third survey to be conducted in the spring of 2010.
The VTSSS program has proven critical for development
and implementation of public policies that will determine
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Eastern Brook Trout
JOINT VENTURE
protect
|
Reconnect
|
Restore
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Sustain
Virginia continued
The VTSSS program provides that critical capacity. We
are actively seeking resources both to sustain the current
the future of native brook trout streams in western Virginia long-term monitoring program and to resurvey the larger
and the surrounding mountain region. The need for further population of native trout streams in the mountains of
reductions in acidic emissions, for example, was substan- Virginia in 2010.
tiated by the 2006 Acid Rain Program Report released by
EPA in late 2007. Recent emission reductions have been
followed by recovery from acidification in sensitive lakes
and streams in the northeast, but not in western Virginia
brook trout streams. This finding is based on trends in
surface water composition for the 15-year period following
passage of acid rain controls in 1990, and it is consistent
with a 2003 EPA report to Congress that flagged continuing stream acidification in the area that includes western Virginia. For both reports, EPA relied on the VTSSS
program as its primary source of information on stream
acidification and recovery in the southern Appalachian
region.
Locations of 450 native brook trout streams sampled for
water quality in 1987 and 2000. Quarterly sampling is
conducted on a subset of 65 streams. A third survey is
The VTSSS program is a cooperative effort involving the
scheduled for the spring of 2010.
Department of Environmental Sciences at the University
Current federal regulations promise additional reductions of Virginia, Trout Unlimited, the National Park Service, the
in both the sulfur and nitrogen emissions that contribute U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the USDA Forest
to acidic deposition. Emissions will still exceed natural Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Virginia
levels, however, and a number of assessments and model Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The VTSSS
projections suggest that even with substantial reductions program is coordinated with the Shenandoah Watershed
in future acidic deposition, recovery of southern and cen- Study (SWAS). For more about the VTSSS and SWAS
tral Appalachian streams will be limited by soil damage programs, including access to the cited EPA reports,
associated with past acidic deposition.
see http://swas.evsc.virginia.edu or contact Rick Webb at
Although it remains to be seen if acidification impacts to [email protected].
Virginia’s native trout streams can be reversed, it is clear
by Rick Webb
that recovery will be less certain if we lose the capacity to
evaluate the effectiveness of emission control programs.
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