The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has identified six "new" wild trout streams in the Laurel Hill Creek watershed as part of a statewide effort to expand its list of 3,415 waters with naturally reproducing brookies, rainbows and browns.

Because the main objective is resource protection, the agency is confining its search to streams at least a mile long near areas with growing human populations, according to the commission's environmental director John Arway.

"The closer a stream is to people, the greater the potential for harmful impacts," he said. "Although we want to make anglers aware of new opportunities, an equal or greater goal is to take steps to protect the resource from runoff, pollution and other problems associated with development."

The commission ranks wild trout streams primarily by density of trout, especially young trout, with Class A and Wilderness Trout Stream the highest designations. It also involves the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in classifying habitat and water quality as Coldwater, Exceptional Value Coldwater, or High Quality fisheries. Rankings determine the degree of protection against development-related impacts. About one-tenth of the state's known wild trout streams are Class A, and 2,400 have EV or HQ status.

In the latest effort to identify unsampled waters near populated areas, the commission combined mapping technology with U.S. Census data to produce a list of 1,000 potential wild trout waters in 63 watersheds.

"We took streams we've already sampled where we know wild trout exist and mapped other streams we've never visited in the same watersheds," said Mike Bialousz, the agency's Geographic Information Systems specialist. "Then we overlaid the maps with demographic information to get a handle on development pressures in order to prioritize the streams for our visits. Census data and population projections were as important as the number of streams with wild fish in a watershed."

Because the commission will be able to survey just a fraction of the 1,000 streams to confirm there are wild trout, biologists have prioritized the waters in their regions.

"The greater the population growth the higher the priority," said Bialousz. "Most Priority 1 streams are in the Poconos or near Philadelphia, where population densities are spiraling."

Although Tionesta Creek watershed is also a Priority 1, most watersheds in Western Pennsylvania are ranked lower. Loyalhanna is a Priority 2, while the North Branch Slippery Rock, Connequennessing, Laurel Hill, Big Sandy and Little Conneautee creek watersheds have Priority 3 status. The lowest priority was 4.

PFBC fisheries biologist Rick Lorson visited eight streams in the Laurel Hill watershed from Bakerstown to the mouth of Laurel Hill Creek in June and found six contained wild trout.

"Whipkey Run appeared to be the most promising, although we have to go back and do population studies," said Lorson, who plans to visit Big Sandy and Loyalhanna watersheds later this summer.

Once streams are classified, they will be posted on the commission's Web site. Since most are unnamed, they would be known only by a number that indicates their distance in miles from the mouth of the main stem in their watershed. And most probably would be subject to the same regulations as the majority of stocked waters, with no restrictions on tackle and the usual seasons and creel limits, Lorson said.

But he's not worried about increased angling pressure, given the relatively small number of dedicated wild trout fishermen and their proclivity for catch and release.

"Biologists may have different views on this, but my view and the agency's general view is we want people -- anglers, as well as regulators and policy makers -- to know about these streams," he said. "The more eyes on a stream the better. Locals who already fish these streams may not be happy about what we're doing. If we find angling pressure becomes a problem, we can utilize regulations like the Brook Trout Enhancement Program to control it."

Glen McConnell of McConnell's Country Store in Waterville said he's ambivalent about seeing wild streams listed publicly.

"If you make it too easy for people, they'll start abusing the resource. There are people who will clean out a stream because they figure fish wardens don't get up to some of the more remote places," said McConnell, who guides on Slate and Cedar runs, two wild trout streams in Lycoming County. "I'm in the business of serving anglers, too, but I also want to protect wild fish. I think the commission can make the information available on request, but shouldn't just put it out there."

But Arway said impacts from angling pressure pale in comparison to damage from sprawl.

"Paved surfaces create a higher volume of runoff, which puts more pollutants into streams and erodes steam banks," he said. "Streams act flashier, there's less groundwater recharge and there's a warming of the water, which can be deadly to trout."

Adding streams to the state's official list provides a hedge against some of these problems, he said.

"Class A streams typically get maximum protection and Wilderness streams are so remote, development usually isn't an issue. But the floodplains near any wild trout stream, even Class D, automatically get Exceptional Value Wetlands protection, which limits development. Warmwater streams don't get this."