EBTJV project named in NFHAP's annual Waters to Watch program
The White River, VT featured in NFHAP's annual Waters to Watch program.
The National Fish Habitat Partnership recently announced its annual "Waters to Watch" program, and we are proud that a brook trout related project is featured. The project is the Upper White River, VT Large Wood Habitat Restoration Project, by Trout Unlimited. The project, funded in 2020 (partially by EBTJV) and nearly completed, is in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to improve brook trout habitat with large wood additions in 5 miles of stream.
Erin Rogers, Trout Unlimited Project Coordinator and the lead for the Upper White River work, recently spoke about TU's work using large wood additions to improve stream health and fish habitat (check out the video: https://youtu.be/ImSsyw4qfoA)
Rodgers noted: "Essentially [Strategic Wood Additions] means putting large wood back into the channel and more fully connecting those riparian and stream systems where they've had a disconnect for the last 150 or so years. It is very strategic. Some of the benefits are that we are getting are: we see great mesohabitat diversity, it improves sediment transport and sediment sorting, and depending on the forest type and water quality in the stream already we can see some pretty significant changes in macroinvertebrate populations as well ".
Some of the benefits are that we are getting [from strategic wood addition] are: we see great mesohabitat diversity, it improves sediment transport and sediment sorting, and depending on the forest type and water quality in the stream already we can see some pretty significant changes in macroinvertebrate populations as well . - Erin Rodgers, PhD., Trout Unlimited
There are other efforts to improve watershed health in the White as well. One of these, by the White River Partnership was completed with partial funding through EBTJV/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through NFHAP. This prior project (also highlighted in Waters to Watch in 2012) addressed flood- and flood recovery-related habitat modifications on four tributaries to the Upper White River in Rochester, Vermont following tropical storm Irene by utilizing active instream management and design; establishing riparian buffers; and removing barriers to fish passage.
We spoke with Mary Russ, Director of the White River Partnership recently, and she noted that the work done after Irene created good spinoff projects and that pre-and post-project assessments showed "incredible" increases in fish populations and those have been sustained over the years. Furthermore, the west branch of the White is now in "better shape and more resilient with fantastic habitat and buffers coming in".
According to the White River Partnership, The White River is significant for being one of the last free-flowing rivers in the State of Vermont, and is the longest un-dammed tributary to the Connecticut River, which was the first designated National Blueway.
There is a lot of new and continued work happening in the White River watershed, with many partners, and we think that the combination of partners and multiple avenues of restoration work is worth celebrating. And thanks again to NFHAP and FWS for continuing to fund on-the-ground fish habitat projects across the United States.
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