Rolling on the Rivers

By Chip Young

Helping fish find their way

It isn’t easy for fish to make their way around the state’s waterways, what with dams and culverts being built end upon end.  And although the new financing of fish ladders has been a help, there is a another new program from the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Services that is doing a nice, under-the-radar program locally, as explained by two of its biggest advocates.

By Harriet E. Powell and Phoukham Vongkhamdy

Rhode Island’s trout never get more excited attention paid to them on than the opening day of fishing season, this year on April 11.

Unless you are working for the R.I. River and Stream Continuity Project, that is.

The Rhode Island Resource Conservation and Development Area Council (RC&D) through its affiliation with the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is working in partnership with Trout Unlimited’s Narragansett and Northern Chapters and the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association to coordinate efforts to create stream and river crossing areas for migrating brook trout and other fish, and make it easier for fish to move continuously through the waterways of the state.  This partnership is supported by a volunteer program that inventories culverts and other river and stream crossings that inhibit the movement of fish and wildlife.

Long, linear streams and rivers are vulnerable to fragmentation.  A number of human activities can disrupt the continuity of river and stream ecosystems.  Dams are a major factor in throwing a monkey wrench into the ecological landscape, and Rhode Island has approximately 500 dams.  But there is also a growing concern about the role of road crossings—and especially culverts—that can interrupt habitat continuity.

RC&D and USDA-NRCS have provided training to Trout Unlimited volunteers and members of the general public who are at the heart of the success of the project.  The first efforts of the River and Stream Continuity Project have been in the Upper and Lower Wood River, Queens River, Beaver River, Upper Pawcatuck and Clear River watersheds where more than 600 crossings have been surveyed.  The project’s sights are now set on expanding into the Moosup River and lower Blackstone River watersheds, making it a truly statewide effort.

The information being gathered about fish and wildlife passages are being used to locate potential restoration projects, and also for research into improving culvert designs and lessening the impact of other stream crossing barriers.  It is something one doesn’t normally think about, but life is not just one easy roll on the river for trout and other species.

The world of streams and rivers is a complex one due to the human-created problems that expand as the population increases and more and more infrastructure is inflicted upon these ecosystems.  By marrying professional expertise with volunteer dedication and commitment, steps are being made to lessen habitat loss and degradation; decrease road and stream kills that lead to loss and fragmentation of once-unified wildlife populations; and reduce disruptions to the normal ebb and flow of nature.

Through this stream continuity initiative there is a great potential for re-connecting many miles of rivers and streams that would benefit migratory fish species (salmon, river herring and shad) and also local fish and wildlife (trout, freshwater mussels and crayfish).  Then perhaps the only thing that Rhode Island’s trout and their brethren will have to worry about are all those flies and worms being thrown enticingly into their paths when the fishing season begins every April.

- Harriet E. Powell is president of the Rhode Island RC&D Area Council; Phoukham Vongkhamdy is the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services state conservationist.