By Tyler Frantz, Doc Fritchey Chapter Trout Unlimited

This article is reprinted from the Summer PA Trout Unlimited newsletter and also appeared in the Jan./Feb. PA Angler & Boater Magazine.  It also won an Excellence in Craft Award from the PA Outdoor Writers Association--

It’s an amazing story of commitment, dedication and teamwork – one that’s more than 30 years [since 1987] old, and continues to be scripted each week in the remote pages of Saint Anthony’s Wilderness.

It’s a story of a crippled but rehabilitated trout stream, the delicate life that thrives at the hands of its keepers, and the devoted few that faithfully pledge to sustain it – humbly, dutifully and with care.

Without a doubt, it’s a story worth sharing.

St. Anthony’s Wilderness, located in Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, is the largest forested wilderness adjacent to a metropolitan and suburban area in the nation.

Situated within 30 miles of more than 700,000 citizens and just a three-hour drive from approximately 7,000,000 people, the heartbeat of this 44,373-acre wilderness is a waterway known as Stony Creek.

“Stony Creek Valley is a special place,” Lebanon County native Larry Herr said.

“Where else can you find something so unique so close to that many people?

There’s a lot of history in that valley, including an abandoned railroad, the Appalachian Trail, and four ghost towns. If it’s not preserved for the future, it will be lost.”

Thankfully, there’s a conservation collaborative that determinedly breathes fresh life into the heart of Stony Valley on a regular basis – and that pulse flows outward.

Located just north of the old railroad bridge over Rausch Creek in Pennsylvania State Game Lands #211 is believed to be the first limestone diversion well ever built in the United States, which has helped neutralize acidic water flowing from Stony Creek’s largest tributary to support the main stem for more than three decades.

The Dauphin Chapter of Trout Unlimited in conjunction with the PA Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit of Penn State University began construction of the original circular well in 1986.

Then in 2000, volunteers of Trout Unlimited’s Doc Fritchey Chapter, successor of the Dauphin Chapter, completed a second square well.

The intakes are positioned so that the circular well functions year round, and the square well is activated during periods of high stream flow.

Patterned after a Swedish design, part of Rausch Creek’s flow is diverted from the primary stream channel to a treatment structure approximately 100 yards downstream via two intake pipes, which feed the water through pressurized nozzles into limestone gravel.

These highly alkaline limestone particles reenter the stream and chemically react to neutralize acidic water originating upstream from old coal mine drainages and acid rainfall.

Treating this water results in significant increase in pH (the greater the number, the less acidity), from an average of about 4.0 above the wells with no fish life present to over 6.0 below the discharge, where healthy brook trout often can be observed just a few yards downstream from the old bridge.

Moreover, water quality routinely averages over 6.0 for several miles downstream – adequate for supporting year-round populations of both brook and brown trout, making Stony Creek an incredible fishery for Harrisburg-area anglers to enjoy.

But these results come at a cost.

Members of DFTU and other local volunteers maintain these wells weekly, through gritty manual labor.

They fill the wells by hand-shovel with high-cal limestone, which has been graciously donated by Pennsy Supply from its Lebanon Quarry for the duration of the original well’s existence, and delivered by Reigel Trucking for 30 years, and Mike Sensening recently.

Since the wells are located several miles from the nearest SGL 211 parking lot off Goldmine Road in Lebanon County, their work requires special access permission from the PA Game Commission to drive in along the old railroad grade once a week (Sundays in fall/winter; Mondays in Spring/Summer) to maintain the wells, a privilege for which they are very grateful.

“It’s been a community effort,” said DFTU’s Dennis Coffman, who has volunteered at the well for 17 years, knowing full well the nature of the work at hand.

“Sometimes the wells clog up, we have to keep the intakes clear of debris, and the stone is frozen. Trees fall across the road, snow or ice makes it impassable – so I’ve cross-country skied or walked into the wells. You never know what Mother Nature will throw at you, but it’s never hard to go back there. When I can’t go, I miss it.”

“Hurricanes have made a mess in recent years, and one time we even had a tree fall and puncture the pipe, which made a lot more work for us,” Fran Barilar added.

“But you go because you know you’re making an impact. You can see the results.”

Jim Rauch, who cut his teeth fishing Stony Creek 50 years ago, said the fishery is more viable now than ever. George Dobson said giving back is the right thing to do.

Joe Notarangelo joked that he shows up for the donuts, though the camaraderie through conservation is as appealing to him as Joe Connor, who pointed out this legacy has no end as long as there’s future volunteers to sustain it.

At age 37, Andy Link is one of the youngest regulars on maintenance day.

Two years ago, he stumbled upon the group while fly-fishing Rausch Creek. They showed him the wells, and he was amazed by how something so simple but influential could be sustained with no electric pumps, only gravity and dedicated manual labor, for 30-plus years.

He’s now a DFTU board member and brings along his 4-year-old.

“It’s an awesome group of guys, and I look forward to contributing to the preservation of this amazing place every week,” Link said. “If anyone wants to help, TU member or not, we’ll happily welcome you into the fold.”

Click Here to watch a 2012 video about the project.

Check the DFTU.org website for meeting times. We’d love to have you join us for this meaningful conservation work.”

Indeed there is hope for the future as this success story continues to unfold.

(Reprinted from the Summer PA Trout Unlimited newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

[Posted: September 20, 2021]

9/27/2021