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I'm Dr. Jack Bowers,
I'm a retired Navy captain.
Our family has been here since the mid-seventeen hundreds. Growing up here, I used to hunt and fish.
Since I retired I came back and saw the destruction that the water was doing,
and I went to the NRCS and asked if they had any programs that would help cut down on the erosion.
and I went to the NRCS and asked if they had any programs that would help cut down on the erosion.
They came up and showed me what they could do.
I'm Jim Hendrick a fisheries biologist with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Here's a good example of some shoreline erosion.
This is likely caused just by the lack of riparian trees from the shoreline.
Its hard to tell how long ago land owners may have removed the trees for agricultural purposes.
Its hard to tell how long ago land owners may have removed the trees for agricultural purposes.
And then with the continued grazing of areas like this, it doesn't allow for
young trees to recolonize and re-support the bank.
My name is Dustin Wichterman, I'm the Potomac Headwaters Project Coordinator for Trout Unlimited.
Brook trout is a keystone species for the Keystone Initiative.
This guy represents
This guy represents
good, cold, clean water.
Approximately an 11 inch brook trout
this is uh... not the norm *laughter*
so it puts a huge smile on my face.
This just shows that this water is good and cold and clean, and remains that way
throughout the year. In order for these fish to survive throughout the warmer summer months,
it's imperative that the cold water is here and it has to be clean gravel for spawning
in the fall.
So, we need to protect these very sensitive areas that surround these streams.
Sedimentation, not only can it impact fish eggs,
it actually eliminates the type of habitat needed for aquatic insects,
and these aquatic insects are the primary food source of brook trout.
One thing that can happen is when a lot of the sunlight is allowed to come into the stream,
we get other types of algaes that we would not normally see if this
was a full canopy stream. We can definitely see overgrowth from what
we would expect in a natural undisturbed stream.
Brook trout and many other species are very sensitive and, without a good
riparian cover in place, eventually brook trout will disappear.
[Wichterman] Basically we're at the top of the watershed right now and,
if we start to protect these brook trout, it will trickle down.
Typically, we work with farmers, but with a lot of these funding sources, they are relatively inexpensive
Typically, we work with farmers, but with a lot of these funding sources, they are relatively inexpensive
to a lot of the landowners. [Hedrick] Now this area is going to get replanted with riparian trees,
but the use of this repairian fence is keeping the cattle away from the edge of the stream bank.
but the use of this repairian fence is keeping the cattle away from the edge of the stream bank.
That not only prevents erosion, but that also prevents extra nutrients from livestock waste
to asorb that nutrients before it actually gets to the stream.
[Bowers] The stream program is important in restoring the habitat of brook trout,
to keep them here and to keep them healthy.
I want to make sure its done the right way and
for all of the generations that are coming along behind us.