Expanded protection given to 99 wild trout streams
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Cool, clean water is bubbling to the surface in many places in Pennsylvania. The list of confirmed wild trout waters grew by nearly 100 streams last week when the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission raised the number of waterways that support naturally reproducing populations of trout.
The list includes 17 streams added in southwest Pennsylvania. That's good news for trout, but the impact will be marginal for anglers and devastating for some landowners who had hoped to cash in on the Marcellus Shale boom.
PFBC angler surveys show that few people fish the headwater streams where wild browns and brook trout grow. But the agency's official designation as Wild Trout Waters automatically triggers state Department of Environmental Protection testing that could lead to land-use restrictions in those watersheds, including limits on drilling. A DEP classification of a High-Quality Cold-Water Fishery would restrict development in the watershed. An Exceptional Value Fishery designation would mandate more stringent restrictions.
Nevertheless, John Arway, executive director of the Fish and Boat Commission, said it's "all about the trout."
"It's our responsibility to make sure these streams are classified accurately," he said. "Whatever protections are afforded by regs or laws are drawn from that, not the other way around."
The Wild Trout watersheds are given special protections, but not the trout. On those creeks, the season, size and creel limits and other regulations are the same as on less sensitive waters. Arway said special Wild Trout Water regs aren't necessary because very few anglers fish those streams, and most of those who do practice catch-and-release.
"In fact, our studies show that when we designate a special regulations area, we attract anglers to those areas because people think they're special," he said. "If we believe there's a harvest issue in a small headwater stream, we can designate a special regulations area."
Of the nearly 3,650 streams classified by PFBC as Wild Trout Waters, none have drawn special regulations.
First Published May 29, 2011 12:00 am
