Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - March/April 2021 - 43

An outdated culvert was replaced on Gravel Lick Run, a tributary of Little Lyman Run in the Kettle Creek watershed, Potter
County, as part of an ongoing program to enhance wild trout movement on streams across Pennsylvania. The Gravel Lick Run
project was completed in 2019.

" Aquatic connectivity is a huge issue right now, " said
Nihart. " There has been a lot of attention on habitat
fragmentation from human activities and urbanization,
but fragmentation of stream flow has very much entered
the spotlight in recent years. "
The ability of the PFBC and its partners to implement
culvert replacements is aided largely by the Unassessed
Waters Initiative, which was launched in 2009 to
document wild trout streams-many without names and
never before sampled.
When representatives of TU, the Conservancy, and
other organizations survey streams for the PFBC, they
also can take stock of culverts.
Since 2009, over 8,000 " new " waterways have been
assessed; over 2,200 waterways comprising of nearly 4,700
stream miles have been found to support wild Brook
Trout, Brown Trout, or Rainbow Trout; 557 have been
designated Class A, because the streams contain a certain
biomass of trout.
Early in the program, biologists targeted waterways
that are relatively easy to reach, and they are now tackling
those in more remote areas. " A lot of them are a 6- or
7-mile hike from the nearest hard road and in some of the
most beautiful places we have ever been, " said Chapman.
" To see wild Brook Trout in a stream surrounded by
hemlocks is quite an experience. " An interactive map is
available at www.fishandboat.com.
www.fishandboat.com

Wild trout waters abound in the central part of the
state but have been found in all of Pennsylvania's 67
counties, except for Greene, Washington, and Beaver in
the southwest and Philadelphia in the southeast.
Students from Edinboro University, working
through TU, spent 3 weeks sampling streams across
Pennsylvania's northern tier in the summer of 2018.
" We did the whole Route 6 corridor and covered three
river basins-the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Ohio, "
said Tyler Waltenbaugh, an avid fly angler. " We assessed
about 20 small waters not even named-streams that
were just numbers in a system-and found quite a few
with Brook Trout. "
" It is especially gratifying to find wild trout in
watersheds once rife with mine drainage and now
restored, " said Nihart. " The upper West Branch
Susquehanna River watershed in Cambria and
Clearfield counties is one that comes to mind.
Numerous remediation projects have improved the
chemical and physical habitat within this severely
impacted watershed. "
" To document the presence of wild trout in waters like
this one, traditionally devoid of fish, is always surprising no
matter how many times you encounter it in your career. "
It is always a pleasure to " put new waters on the map, "
wherever they may be, agreed Chapman. " Going to these
streams is refreshing. It is one of my favorite things to do. "

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * March/April 2021

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - March/April 2021

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