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.

Freshwater mussel conservation in western 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.

Nestled between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in western New York, the Service's Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office is located in an incredibly unique area. Part of the reason this area is so interesting is the high number of streams with freshwater mussels.

A native freshwater mussel found in the stream during a road-crossing survey. Credit: USFWS

Freshwater mussel populations are in decline all over the country. Pollution and habitat loss are two of the leading causes of the population decline. As the human population grows and cities spread out, more roads are built, many of which cross streams. When those road crossings are installed correctly, they cause no problems.

However, due to budget constraints and lack of training for the installers, many crossings are under-sized or incorrectly installed. This causes a major problem for fish and other critters that live in the stream. The road crossing becomes a barrier to fish migration, as well as the migration of other species, including freshwater mussels.

Life in the lab: The less glamorous side of marine biology

Today you're hearing from Melissa May, a doctoral student in marine biology at the University of Maine, about her work studying how mussels respond to changes in salinity. For this post, we're switching from freshwater to saltwater mussels in our series.

Sure, being a marine biologist is awesome, but it’s not all whales and ocean excursions.

Most of us spend a fair amount of time in the laboratory, bent over microscopes or analyzing data. And, more often than not, our research subjects resemble slimy blobs instead of adorable animals. But, we lab rats get a different perspective of the world. We see inside the cells, we manipulate the unseen, and we play with expensive equipment.

I study mussels – the same ones you’ve sautéed in wine. On the outside, there isn’t much to them, but we all know it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And take it from me, they’re fascinating!

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.

A growing appreciation for freshwater mussels

Today you’re hearing from Brett Hillman, a biological science technician for the Service’s New England Field Office, as he recounts his work with freshwater mussels at the Service's Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Vermont. Brett assists the endangered species biologists and has the great pleasure of working with a wide variety of wildlife. 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.

Before I began my job in the New England Field Office, I will admit that I didn’t have a great appreciation for mussels.

I knew that they were an important component of aquatic ecosystems, but I didn’t understand quite how important. And while I’ve spent countless hours searching for and identifying species of many other taxa, from birds to bugs to plants, mussels never captured my interest. Now that I’m fully immersed in mussel ecology, however, I am definitely gaining some more respect for these underrated invertebrates.

Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled taxa in the country. According to Patty Morrison, a mussel expert and biologist at the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, 76 out of the approximately 300 native mussel species in the U.S. are federally listed, six of which have been listed within just the past two years. 

Partnering to save endangered animals: West Virginia

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!

The Appalachian Mountains rise thousands of feet along an ancient line dropping south from Canada to Alabama. Over centuries, unique environments developed along this line and gave birth to an rich variety of wildlife, including an amazing number of freshwater mussels. 

West Virginia, the only state completely enclosed in the Appalachian range, takes pride in the huge chunk of mussels that call its rivers and streams home. In many unpolluted streams, an experienced visitor can spot from 20 to 30 different kinds of freshwater mussels.