Best of 2012: 1) Protecting and restoring our waters

We're bringing in the new year with a look back at our milestones for 2012. Check back each day for featured events and activities from across the Northeast!

Before and after aerial shots of the Great Works Dam site on Maine's Penobscot River.

Our rivers and streams connect us to just about everything we do, from drinking and energy to fishing and other recreation. Some of the water barriers that we’ve put in place to harness this precious resource, including road-stream pipes (culverts), dams and dikes, have seriously impacted wildlife and water quality. Of the estimated six million barriers across the U.S., many are now also obsolete and hazards to human health and safety.

Gifts from nature: Healthy waters

She helps get it from forest to your faucet, but Mother Nature needs your help to continue providing clean water for people and wildlife. 

A project at Sedgeunkedunk Stream in Maine removed a dam and restored natural water functions. Credit: Meagan Racey/USFWS

 
During this season of holiday giving, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would like to take time and reflect on the gifts we receive throughout the year from Mother Nature. Gifts of Nature are treasures to behold and wonders to be thankful for. 

Students take pride in contributing to turtle conservation

Today, wildlife biologist Stephanie Koch and four high school students share their reflections on raising and releasing rare Blanding’s turtles as part of an experimental head-starting program.

BLANDING'S TURTLE

This medium-sized freshwater turtle inhabits wetlands in parts of the upper Midwest, New York, New England and southern Canada. Throughout the Northeast, populations appear to be declining. More

Bristol County Agricultural High School students have partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to help nurture Blanding’s turtles, considered threatened in Massachusetts, and later release them with a greater likelihood of survival at Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, Mass.

The program, intended to establish a new population at the refuge, involves collecting hatchlings in the wild, raising them in captivity and releasing them back in the wild when the turtles are large enough to survive most predation. Head-start programs are one of many tools that the Service considers in the conservation of species like the Blanding's turtle.

Over the last three years, Bristol Aggie teacher Brian Bastarache and Stephanie have led students in releasing more than 150 turtles. This year's release was on May 23.

Improving a WV river's health by bringing back endangered mussels

Did you think we were through with freshwater mussels? Never! Hear from Barb Douglas, an endangered species biologist with our West Virginia Field Office, on an effort to save endangered mussels from a bridge project and bring them to several sites in other states, including West Virginia. A Pennsylvania biologist shared her perspective last month.

It was a beautiful autumn morning, a perfect day to be out on the Elk River, my favorite river in the state, and doing something I love: restoring populations of endangered mussels.

WATCH THE VIDEO

The WCHS-TV crew tagged along the day these endangered mussels were released. Check out the Healthy Mussels Means Health Rivers eyewitness webcast.

The Elk River has the highest diversity of fish and mussels of any watershed in West Virginia. It’s home to 100 types of fish and 30 types of freshwater mussels, including four endangered mussel species. Populations of many of these species have declined because of poor water quality in the river.

One of those endangered mussels, the northern riffleshell, hadn’t been seen here for almost 20 years. Fortunately, the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania still has a large northern riffleshell population, and our partners there were willing to allow us to transfer some of their mussels out of the path of a new highway bridge and into the Elk River, near an area where they historically occurred.

Pa. mussels help restore streams in Ill., Ohio and WV

We love freshwater mussels so much that we extended our month-long series to tell you about work to restore and protect freshwater mussels and their homes in Pennsylvania. Today you're hearing from Lora Zimmerman, the assistant supervisor of Contaminants and Conservation Planning Assistance in our Pennsylvania office. This series highlights the importance of freshwater mussels to the Northeast landscape and the concerted efforts underway to ensure their future in our waters.

Pennsylvania is known for a lot of things—spectacular trout fishing, abundant energy resources, intensely rivaled hockey teams—but one of the lesser known treasures of Pennsylvania is its native freshwater mussels.  

Species almost lost elsewhere are known from the Allegheny River and French Creek in western Pennsylvania, and they are the envy of several neighboring states where the mussels have either been lost or populations are too small to survive without assistance. For example, although it remains in only five percent of its historical range, the northern riffleshell continues to have thriving populations in Pennsylvania. Likewise, the clubshell mussel also has stronghold populations in the Commonwealth.

Clubshell mussel. Credit: USFWS

Clubs, riffles and rays of New York

This post is part of a series running all month on freshwater mussels, highlighting their importance to the Northeast landscape and the concerted efforts underway to ensure their future in our waters.

 The Allegheny River basin holds globally significant populations of four species of mussels federally listed as endangered.  They are northern riffleshell (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana), clubshell (Pleurobema clava), rayed bean (Villosa fabalis) and snuffbox (Epioblasma triquetra).  

Surveys in the upper Allegheny River basin in New York and Pennsylvania have found populations of these species in the past, but portions of the mainstem Allegheny River and its tributaries remain un-surveyed or have incomplete surveys -- an obstacle to truly achieving recovery.

Diver looking for riffleshell and clubshell mussels. Credit: Jeremy Tiemann Il/Natural History Survey

Moving mussels

Cheryl Daigle from the Penobscot River Restoration Trust.

Today you're hearing from Cheryl Daigle, the community liaison and outreach coordinator for the Penobscot River Restoration Trust. This post is part of a series running all month on freshwater mussels, highlighting their importance to the Northeast landscape and the concerted efforts underway to ensure their future in our waters.

Working on a river restoration project that is focused on restoring 11 species of sea-run fish -- including the enigmatic shortnose sturgeon and leaping wonder of salmon -- offers many fascinating moments of discovery about rivers, community, and restoration of place.

Yet, I never imagined freshwater mussels would invite the depths of thought I had while helping to relocate exposed mussels to deeper habitat during the removal of the Great Works Dam and subsequent lowering of the impoundment to a natural river flow.

Giving mussels a boost in Tenn.'s Powell River

Today you're hearing from Jess Jones, a restoration biologist with the Service's Virginia Field Office, on releasing the largest group of three endangered mussels in the Powell River. This post is part of a series running all month on freshwater mussels, highlighting their importance to the Northeast landscape and the concerted efforts underway to ensure their future in our waters.

Biologist Jess Jones distributes mussels. Credit: Gary Peeples/USFWS

Every once in a while everything just works out. 

Today was such a day -- cool and sunny, an early fall afternoon on the Powell River in northeastern Tennessee, where biologists and students worked together to release endangered mussels. Heavy rains occurred the week before, but the water level dropped just in time to stock them in the river, 5,500 oyster mussels (Epioblasma capsaeformis), 1,000 Cumberlandian combshells (Epioblasma brevidens), and 27 snuffbox (Epioblasma triquetra). The young mussels were 1-2 years old and about 20-30 mm long.

Recovering the wild from a wild river: Taking a look back

This post is part of a series running all month on freshwater mussels, highlighting their importance to the Northeast landscape and the concerted efforts underway to ensure their future in our waters.
 
The conflict between the demand for energy and the love of land

The 1960 film Wild River, starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick, dramatically depicts the controversy surrounding the construction of a series of federal dams to harness the mighty Tennessee River for electrical power generation in the 1930s. The story opens when a Tennessee Valley Authority field administrator is sent to make way for one of the dams, but the Garth family and others living along the river resist leaving their land, which is to be flooded. Slowly, the conflict unfolds. 

Wild River pits the need for power generation and flood control against the preservation of land and culture. Construction of dams throughout the Tennessee River basin brought the region into the modern world but also displaced farm families and communities, altered aquatic habitats, and resulted in the loss of many native fish and mussels. 

TVA's Norris Dam on the lower Clinch River in Tennessee. Completed in 1936, it was the first of many dams constructed by TVA to harness the power of the Tennessee River System. The free-flowing portion of the Clinch River above the dam is the nation's top hotspot for freshwater mussel diversity.

Roanoke makes river more popular for fish and recreation

Two years later, and the new and improved bridge that crosses the Roanoke River in Roanoke, Va., is still a gift to the fish that make the river their home, as well as to the people of the city.

Completed on May 20, 2010, the installation of the new bridge was the final step in the Wiley Drive Bridge replacement project that including replacing the previous bridge with one that would better serve the fish and other visitors to the Roanoke River.

The main purpose of the project was to allow more movement for groups of Roanoke logperch, a fish protected under the Endangered Species Act, that have been documented in upper and lower sections of the river. The former bridge acted almost as a dam, keeping the populations separated from one another and lowering genetic diversity. 

Before and after the bridge replacement. Credit: USFWS

 

Partnering to save endangered animals: Connecticut

We're so excited about the new interactive map highlighting endangered species efforts in each state across the nation. Each day we'll feature a state, partner and animal. Subscribe on the right to keep up!

Your only chance at seeing the tiny Puritan tiger beetle is in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the Connecticut River in New England. Historically, there were 11 populations along the Connecticut River, but only these two remain.

The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge has long been the driving force in protecting and restoring the embattled beetle population on state- and city-owned property in Massachusetts. It was only natural for them to lead the efforts to help protect and maintain the beetles' other population in Connecticut. Read more of the story.

Puritan tiger beetles are voracious predators, preying on other invertebrates
by chasing and catching them in a tiger-like manner. Credit: Susi von Oettingen/USFWS

Reviving a river: Checking in at Great Works Dam

Each week, our folks at the Maine field office are driving by to check on the progress of the Great Works Dam removal, part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project.
 
The photo is taken from the Bradley shore on the east side looking at the dam from downstream. You can see the 1930s fishway in the center, with the pulp mill on the left.

We'll be seeing a lot more change on the section at left as continues. 



Credit: Steven Shepard/USFWS



This is part of a series on fish passage. Read the other blog posts here.

 

Reviving a river: Getting fish around those dams

Today, you’re hearing again from the head of our Maine field office, Laury Zicari. Last time we talked about the long history of native fish in Maine. Now, learn how we help get fish up and around those dams using fishways. 

 

Working to relicense hydropower projects while accommodating native fish is a challenge.

This past week, our team got together to do their annual compliance inspection. The team includes our Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower relicensing biologist, Steve, the Natural Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) engineer Don, three fishway engineers from the our regional office, two NMFS law enforcement agents and hydroplant operators.
The inspection focused on compliance with fishway operating criteria and turbine operation protocols at the larger hydroelectric plants. 

Who’s talking about the Penobscot?

Hear, hear, make way for the fish! The joy for the Penobscot's future splashed all over the news, with more than 50 articles popping up over the weekend through yesterday.

Take a look at what they had to say:

"The dams will fall and the salmon will rise.

That may sound like prophesy, but it’s as certain as scientific predictions get these days, particularly in matters of ecological restoration." From a National Geographic blog

Reviving a river: From the field

Yesterday, we celebrated the first step to removing the huge Great Works Dam on the Penobscot River. Today, you’ll hear from the head of our Maine field office, Laury Zicari. This office has done a tremendous amount of work to ensure that measures are taken to avoid, minimize, or compensate for the impacts on fish and wildlife from dams along the Penobscot.

Greetings from the Great State of Maine and the Maine Field Office!

I have worked in Ecological Services for about 22 years, transferring to Maine last year. This a great place to do the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Any map of Maine will show you the long history connecting our state with fish. You'll see many marvelous fish-related names derived from the language of the Native Americans that lived here long before European settlers arrived:

• Cobbosseecontee – Abenaki for “plenty of sturgeon” 
• Kenduskeag - Abenaki for “eel place or eel weir place” 
• Passagassawakeag – Malecite for “place for spearing sturgeon by torchlight”
• Passamaquoddy – Abenaki or Micmac for “plenty of pollock jumping”
• Wassookeag – Abenaki for “shining fish place”
• Alamoosook – Anglicized Malacite for "at the fish spawning place”
• Mattamiscontis – Abenaki for “alewife stream”
• Mattawamkeag – Abenaki for “fishing place beyond gravel bar”
• Androscoggin – Abenaki for “place where fish are cured”
• Medddybemps – Passamaquoddy-Abenaki for “plenty of alewives”

(From Brian McCauley's "The Names of Maine – How Maine Places got their names and What They Mean," 2004)

Reviving a river

The Penobscot River Restoration Project

 

The Penobscot River, New England's second largest river system, once flowed freely for more 100 miles from Maine's North Woods to the sea. 

Over two centuries, more than 100 dams were built that crippled its course, obstructing migratory paths of sea-run fish like Atlantic salmon, shad, eels and alewives and diminishing the water's health and food for wildlife upstream.

Today, hundreds will watch as we begin a new era for Maine's largest river by dismantling one of those dams: the Great Works Dam, 1,000 feet of concrete, timber and cribwork. Its removal is part of a broad effort that will eventually include removing two dams, modifying a third dam and increasing fish passage at four other dams (see map).

Connecting rivers connects us

Has a river been an important part of your life?  If so, you’re not alone.  Rivers and their tributaries are literally in our own backyards according to Rebecca Wodder, Senior Advisor to Secretary of the Interior.  Wodder recently addressed over 300 participants at Fish Passage 2012, a conference at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst campus.

   

Water flows freely on Yokum Brook in Becket,

 Massachusetts following removal of the Ballou Dam.  Credit:

Jan Rowan/USFWS.

The return of Atlantic salmon to reaches of the Kennebunk River in Maine once blocked by a 164-year old dam made a deep impression on Wodder about the resilience of rivers.  “It gave me a sense of hope,” she said.

That sense was a common theme among participants at Fish Passage 2012.  Over a hundred presentations addressed biology, hydrology, and engineering topics with the hope that our rivers  continue to provide connectivity not only for fish and wildlife, but for us as well!

Our broken rivers affect fish…and you.

A devastating storm hit Vermont in fall 2011. It brought water levels rivaling the historic flood of 1927. Among the $1 billion of damage were 960 damaged culverts that led to floodwater and debris wiping out roads and homes.

What does this have to do with the Fish and Wildlife Service? Well, what we found out is that culverts, or road-stream crossings, that allow fish to pass through can also pass high waters and debris. Culverts that we helped design to pass fish withstood the storm. But these structures, typically tube- or square-shaped, are often undersized or placed at the wrong height for water levels.

The Service's New York Field Office used this bottomless
culvert, shaped like an arch, to simulate a more natural
environment for fish. The project opened 18 miles of
waterway. More images.

So having the right size, shape and placement is good for surviving extreme weather. But there are other reasons we want structures to allow fish to move up and downstream.

Fish are indicators of how healthy our environments and rivers are. They represent a natural water system. At one time, our nation’s fish populations were among the richest and most diverse in the world. But as we developed, barriers were constructed across streams and rivers—from dams for irrigation, power and drinking water to culverts under roads. Much of these prevented aquatic wildlife from moving between their natural habitats. Once abundant fish populations have declined or entirely disappeared due to these barriers.

The impacts reach beyond fish and affect the local communities surrounding these waters. Aquatic resources provide recreational, commercial and subsistence opportunities. Barriers cause water quality problems for people and wildlife. Boaters rely on free flowing rivers. Out-of-use dams are dangerous and a liability to owners.

America has more than 6 million of these barriers that range from dams to culverts and obstruct the natural flow of water and natural movement of wildlife. In the Northeast, many of our Service programs are involved in projects to correct this problem, from the National Fish Passage Program to the Coastal and Partners for Fish and Wildlife programs. Check back with us throughout the month for examples of how we’re helping free our region’s waters.

Videos: 

Importance of Fish Passage 

A River Couldn't Run Through It 

The National Fish Passage Program in Vermont

This is part of a series on fish passage. Read the other blog posts here.