Meet Maddie Feaster, TU's New PA and NJ Project Manager
Maddie holds a striped bass on the Hudson River
The Upper Delaware Brook Trout Initiative is a tri-state effort to restore cold-water streams across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania by aligning partners, funding, and science to deliver real conservation outcomes. One important component of this Initiative was to increase on-the-ground capacity to manage habitat projects.
In June of 2025, TU hired Maddie Feaster as the Upper Delaware Project Manager for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Maddie brings strong technical expertise and a passion for aquatic habitat restoration. Her experience and collaborative approach will help turn shared priorities into action across the Upper Delaware watershed.
Lori Maloney (EBTJV Coordinator): Tell us a little about the work you'll be doing with the Upper Delaware Brook Trout Initiative.
Maddie: At Trout Unlimited, I’m excited to be part of a team dedicated to enhancing cold-water habitat conservation in the Delaware River Basin. I’ll be collaborating with partners like EBTJV, state agencies, and local communities to coordinate landscape-scale conservation efforts for Eastern brook trout recovery across the tri-state (NY, NJ, PA) region of the Upper Delaware Watershed. Primarily, my role will be focused on prioritizing and implementing barrier removal and stream crossing replacement projects to restore aquatic organism passage and improve headwater biodiversity in priority watersheds across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Lori: what motivates you to do this work?
Since I can remember, I’ve been devoted to the conservation and preservation of all wildlife. As I got older, I started to realize the importance of protecting aquatic species as they are the most threatened organisms on the planet due to pollution, habitat fragmentation, and loss. I was first introduced to dam removal when I learned of the threatened Chinook salmon struggling to pass over the notorious Snake River Dams in the Pacific Northwest. Through education, research, and life experiences, reconnecting streams and habitat restoration evolved into my life’s mission. In my opinion, barrier removal is the single greatest action to restore natural river flows and recover fish populations.
Lori: What lessons did you learn as a machinery technician for the Coast Guard that still help you today?
As an engineer in the USCG, I learned the value of thorough troubleshooting to understand how and why things work, break, or seize. As with impaired tributaries, we must first identify why and how the stream has degraded, along with understanding its natural processes to restore it to its free-flowing nature. I also learned the importance of teamwork and camaraderie, which is imperative for every conservation initiative and project!
Lori: what is one challenge in your field (maybe something emerging, maybe something ongoing) that you would like others to be aware of?
In barrier removal, there are many challenges when trying to implement projects, like funding, for example. However, one of the more difficult challenges can be working to gain public support to restore rivers and streams to their natural condition. People should be aware of the danger and presence of dams- they are everywhere! Barrier removal is an effort to protect not only aquatic species and wildlife, but humans as well.
Man-made dams, especially those that are obsolete, are now merely failing pieces of infrastructure not built to withstand today’s weather and accelerated stream flows. They are ticking time-bombs and if breached unmanaged, will cause catastrophic damage to both humans, streams, and critters. While there are many challenges to implementing barrier removal projects, if more people advocate for projects like these, more barriers will come down and more of our rivers will be restored.
Lori: what's something about you or about trout that you want to share?
Some brook trout in New England are anadromous, meaning they live primarily in saltwater then migrate up freshwater tributaries to reproduce. These brookies can be found in coastal streams along the Atlantic and are known as ‘salters’ or ‘sea-run’ brook trout. Unlike other brook trout, these migratory fish are known to feed on other fish and shrimp for extra fuel when swimming through rough ocean currents! There are also potamodromous brookies that migrate only in freshwater systems, such as the Great Lakes watersheds, and are known as ‘coasters.’
We’re excited to welcome Maddie Feaster to the team through Trout Unlimited.
Stay tuned for more information on how this initiative is helping facilitate brook trout conservation across state lines.
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