They have been called the most beautiful of all freshwater fish. The Eastern brook trout is also the official state fish of Pennsylvania.

Once teeming in streams from Maine to Georgia, the wild eastern brookie faces an uncertain future. According to a 2006 report prepared by Trout Unlimited, only 1 percent of 1,300 Pennsylvania subwatersheds that once supported brook trout now have "intact" populations. The populations in 73 percent of state subwatersheds that once held brook trout are now "greatly reduced" or "extirpated."

Brook trout are selective. They need clean water that never gets warmer than about 74 degrees and is free of competition from other species of trout. Nearly all Pennsylvania streams once met those needs. But agriculture, logging, mining, road building and stocking of hatchery trout warmed, polluted and crowded the waters, beating the brookies back to the most remote tributaries.

"We need to do more for brook trout," said Ken Undercoffer, president of the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited.

A lot of people agree. In 2004, fish and wildlife agencies from 17 states including the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, five federal agencies, Trout Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League, the Trust for Public Land, the Nature Conservancy, Virginia Tech and James Madison University formed the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) to restore habitat brook trout need for survival across their original eastern range.

A key step is stream assessment to document where populations still exist, health of individual populations, and where they might be able to live with a little help.

Pennsylvania has some catching up to do, according to "Eastern Brook Trout: Status and Threats," prepared by Trout Unlimited.

"A significant portion of the state (17 percent) lacks any data on the presence of brook trout," states the report.

Fish and Boat Commission coldwater unit leader Tom Greene says that needs to be seen in context.

"The difference is the number of subwatersheds we have in comparison to other states," Greene said. "If you look at the mileage we've inventoried, it compares very favorably to other states. But, undoubtedly, there are streams with brook trout that we have not yet documented."

Undercoffer encourages anglers to get involved.

"[Trout Unlimited) asks that when people are out there fishing, especially around the fringes of known ranges, and run into wild populations, they get back to us or the Fish and Boat Commission and let them know those fish are there," he said.

Each of the 17 states in the EBTJV prepared a list of conservation strategies. In addition to assessment, Pennsylvania's includes public education, promotion of recreational angling, working with private landowners and compiling a list of five high-priority streams for restoration of extirpated trout populations by 2015.

Pennsylvania got ahead of the curve in promotion of recreational angling and setting regulations that the Fish and Boat Commission said were intended to protect brook trout. Before EBTJV was formed, the commission established a Wild Brook Trout Enhancement Program on selected stream sections. The program permits year-round angling with any tackle, but all brook trout must be released. Camp Run in Westmoreland County is the only southwestern stream in the program.

"It is very early on, but so far the results don't look encouraging," Greene said.

Undercoffer has some opinions on why that might be so.

"We're happy that [Fish and Boat] started the Wild Brook Trout Enhancement Program, but they might have better success if these were not such small stream fragments," Undercoffer said. "I've heard Kettle Creek is working a little better, but they're working with 28 miles in a watershed there. I would also question why bait can be used on these projects. I have nothing against bait fishermen, but we've seen data that you have 20 to 40 percent mortality among released fish caught on bait. We'd rather see these streams as artificial lures only and we've made that known to the commission."

Greene said it would not be productive if regulations cut a segment of anglers off from fishing brook trout streams.

"The more people that fish these streams, the more people are aware of our brook trout efforts and the more likely they'll be accepted by the angling public," he said.

Undercoffer sees the most immediate thing the agency could do for wild brook trout as inexpensive and critically important.

"Quit stocking over wild brook trout," he said. "There are plenty of places you can stock. I think it's great to make a trout fishery where there can't otherwise be one. But by stocking streams that could support wild fish, we're doing something that is expensive and it's working against us all. Stocking does creating fishing opportunity, and that's good, but it's not conservation."