Megan Plete Postol 01.17.25
There is some hope for native brook trout in the tri-state region of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, coming from a grant of more than $3 million federal dollars that will help conserve trout streams there.
The grant will help groups, including federal and state environmental agencies and localized environmental groups, improve water quality and habitat for at-risk native brook trout populations in the Delaware River watershed, according to a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection news release.
Brook trout are an indicator species, meaning that the health of the population correlates to water quality. In other words, if brook trout numbers decline, it is often an indicator that something is wrong in the watershed. They are also the official state fish species for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.
The initiative, which will be headed up by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Trout Unlimited, the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Wildlife Management Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will benefit native trout in all three states. It is all part of the America the Beautiful Challenge grant program, which launched in 2021 with a goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Amy Wolfe, director of Trout Unlimited’s northeast coldwater habitat program, said that the goal will be to focus on projects that can reconnect fragmented habitat and reduce pollution from sediment runoff and from other land use impacts in these areas. Specifically, removing barriers such as dams and culverts, enhancing in-stream habitat, restoring floodplain habitat and mitigating upstream stressors that can lead to higher water temperature.
“This initiative is fundamentally about aligning implementation resources with identified projects to help conserve a priority species for all three states and our partners,” Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Tim Schaeffer, said. “In so doing, we are affirming a commitment to landscape-level conservation that capitalizes on unprecedented partnerships here in the Northeast.”
Recipients agreed to at least $8.7 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $131.1 million spread among 61 grants supporting landscape-scale conservation projects across 42 states, 19 Tribal Nations, and 3 U.S. territories. The match for the Eastern brook trout grant is $389,200, for a total project amount of $3,889,200.
“The work that will be accomplished under the America the Beautiful Challenge grant marks a new phase for the already successful joint venture, as states will now use the knowledge compiled over the past 20 years to collectively improve upon the habitat brook trout depend upon in the Delaware watershed,” Steve Hurst, chief of fisheries for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, said.
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