The Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited (PATU) is pleased to announce that eleven grants totaling $90,000 have been awarded to conservation organizations across Pennsylvania through the Coldwater Heritage Partnership’s Coldwater Conservation Grant Program.

These funds will be used to perform stream assessments and develop conservation plans in two watersheds and complete on-the-ground projects, such as construction of instream fish habitat structures and stabilization of eroding stream banks in nine additional watersheds. 

“We are pleased to have been able to increase the amount of grant funding that was provided this year,” said Rachel Kester, Program Director for the Coldwater Heritage Partnership. “This should help overcome rising costs in materials and supplies and support these valuable projects that will protect, reconnect, and restore coldwater habitat across the Commonwealth.”

The following organizations will receive funding support from the Coldwater Heritage Partnership this year:

-- Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania – The Upper Buffalo Creek Watershed Habitat Enhancement and Streambank Restoration Project will help control erosion and sedimentation and improve aquatic habitat by implementing natural stream restoration techniques, in addition to enhancing, conserving, and protecting the Buffalo Creek watershed in Butler County. This will help maintain its high-quality designation.

-- Berks County Conservation District – This project will implement instream habitat for aquatic species, reduce streambank erosion, and protect an onsite coldwater spring with riparian buffer enhancements along Cacoosing Creek in Berks County.

-- Boggs Township– Partners from the Clearfield County Conservation District, Fish and Boat Commission, and Boggs Township will replace three deteriorated brookie jacks with three log framed cross vanes to prevent erosion and enhance habitat in Simeling Run in Clearfield County.

-- Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited – This project will place alkaline sand at three sites in the abandoned mine drainage-impaired section of the Glade Run watershed in Fayette County to maintain the excellent water quality downstream that sustains a native brook trout population for over 10 miles.

-- Clearfield County Conservation District – This project will identify barriers to aquatic organism passage posed by road stream crossings and survey previously unassessed stream segments to document wild trout populations in the Moshannon Creek watershed in Centre and Clearfield Counties.

-- Elk County Conservation District – This project is part of a collaborative, phased approach to reconnect and improve aquatic habitat in the Middle Fork East Branch Clarion River in Elk County by removing passage barriers (culverts), stabilizing eroding stream banks, and enhancing in-stream habitat structures. This phase of the project will include the installation of four fish habitat improvement structures to protect 250 feet of streambank along Middle Fork and Briggs Hollow Roads.

-- Jefferson County Conservation District – This project will entail a stream assessment, data collection, and development of a coldwater conservation plan for Clover Run in Clearfield and Jefferson Counties.

-- Kettle Creek Watershed Association – This project will involve the repair of a large wood addition and channel block completed in 2019 along Hammersley Fork in Clinton County that was compromised by flooding in the fall of 2021.

-- Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy – This project will stabilize eroding streambanks and restore floodplain access along Little Pine Creek within Little Pine State Park in Lycoming County, restoring approximately 1,600 feet of the creek.

-- Warren County Conservation District – This project will entail adding large wood structures to segments along six miles of Farnsworth Branch in Warren County to improve instream fish habitat for wild trout.

-- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – This project will restore 200 feet of streambank along Bobs Creek in Bedford County by installing instream structures to reduce erosion and improve fish habitat.

These grants are made possible with financial assistance from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources through a Community Conservation Partnerships Program grant administered by the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, and through funding from the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds.

The Coldwater Heritage Partnership is a collaboration between PATU, DCNR, the Fish and Boat Commission, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds.

Since its founding in 1963, our mission has been to “conserve, protect, restore and sustain Pennsylvania’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds, especially our wild trout resources.”

We restore streams through habitat improvement projects, conduct education and outreach programs related to water conservation and fisheries management, and work to educate the next generation about the importance of clean water and wild trout.

Our council serves as a unified voice for the 49 local chapters representing over 15,000 members statewide.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited website.  Questions should be directed to Rachel Kester, c-rkester@pa.gov.

[Posted: April 13, 2022]

4/18/2022