November President's Message*

Head-of-Tide Dams and Me

My life was much simpler in 1992. There was work, a lot of that, and play, which usually meant spin casting at anything that looked like water. The housing market was down, and I was able to buy a "house on the water" in Durham, trading up from my first small home in Stratham. I didn't know how to fly fish, I didn't know about Trout Unlimited, and as my kids were very young, didn't have to think about SATs, college tuitions, and teenager auto insurance rates. The water I had a house on was one of the upper areas of the Mill Pond. I drove by the dam every day and didn't think much about it. It looked old, and I had heard that there was once a mill there way back. In fact, I drove by and fished by a lot of dams. There was the Winnicut, Wiswall, MaCallan, Watson, Bellamy...and on and on. Dams were just there. It made sense, river equals dam. A no brainer here in New England, right? I fished on my impoundments with my spinning rod, eventually with my oldest son, and we had fun. My son caught his first fish in that impoundments. A few years later, I had a major life changing event-I took an L.L. Bean fly fishing weekend course. I was addicted before the weekend was over. That was May 3-5, 1994, by the way. Well, most of you probably know what happens after that. You join Trout Unlimited to learn those fly fishing secrets; you progress through the first stage of fly fishing which is to fish whenever and whenever you can and catch as many fish as you possibly can. I began to tie flies and learn about imitating the prey of the fish that I sought. I learned about fish behavior and physiology. I fished out of a canoe in my backyard paradise whenever I could, often skipping dinner to catch the last light. My oldest son learned to fly fish there and caught his first fish on his fly rod there, a monster yellow perch! Ah, the good old days!

As I entered the second stage of fly fishing, catching big fish, I gradually wandered away from my backyard to seek larger more challenging bonefish, tarpon and salmon. Then the third stage, where you catch fish using the technique that you want to use, not what necessarily would work the best. The years pass...Life goes on, and now here I am, the President of Great Bay Trout Unlimited. Now life is complicated.

Why you ask? I answer because I am no longer that naïve spin caster. I now see the reality of where I live. I see how our culture, civilization and lifestyles have changed the landscape and negatively altered the natural world. Reading "The History of Fishing in New Hampshire" by Jack Noon, tells me what we have lost already; the "State of the Estuary Report" by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (previously the New Hampshire Estuaries Project), tells me what we can continue to lose if we are not willing to change. The Atlantic Salmon were long gone before I got here, but now river herring are disappearing along most of the Atlantic Coast. Beautiful Great Bay, where I used to gather oyster shells with my son, is losing its eelgrass, has lost almost 90% of its oysters, is the victim of rising nitrogen levels, increasing sedimentation and water turbidity and low dissolved oxygen. The water in my Mill Pond is now listed as impaired; so is the Taylor River Pond; for that matter so is most of Great Bay! Hey what is going on here?

What is going on is the result of each of us going about our business and not questioning the effect that we each have on the world we live on. We "own" the land, and by gum we are going to do what the heck we want with it. We are going to have a house on the water with lawn down to the water and cut down the trees so we can see the bay or the impoundments behind the head-of-tide dam in our towns. That is the American dream, a house by the water, isn't it? Contractors know what we want, and we are willing to pay for it. What's wrong with that?

So there I was last March, living in my dream home on the water, and testifying at my town public hearing to get rid of the head-of-tide dam that gives me my backyard impoundments. What happened to me? I guess I started to look at the big picture. I realized that I can no longer make decisions based on my own self interest and convenience. I realized that the logical conclusion from that behavior is to destroy the seacoast environment little by little and piece by piece. If that happens, nobody wins. I realized that the only way to get these things to change is to get everyone to see the big picture and to start making their decisions based on what is best for the seacoast long term and not what is best for them in the short term. We are all in this together.

I have now been to several meetings in several towns, including my own, where old head-of-tide dams, that do not support mills, generate power, control floods or provide needed fresh water where there is none, have failed inspection and need either major repair or removal. I have heard most of the people at those meetings argue for keeping the dam. These are my neighbors, my friends, my fellow seacoast citizens. They do not see the science arguing against the result they seek. Perhaps some do not want to see. Perhaps they want to stay hidden in their backyard impoundments. I fully understand that feeling. I know that feeling. I want to make them understand that their decisions will cost us all in the end. How do I do that?

How do I convince them?

Please help. There is power in numbers. Please review the meeting minutes and feasibility study on the Taylor River Dam at HTTP://www.nh.gov/dot/projects/hampton13408b/index.htm . If you agree, that provided concerns regarding the toxic sediments are adequately addressed, you would like to see this dam removed for the benefit of your seacoast environment, then please send your letters and emails to the leaders of those communities, the state representatives of those districts, and the Executive Councilors representing those regions and in particular the owner of the dam, NH Department of Transportation ( RLandry@DOT.state.nh.us). If you do not fully understand the science, go to the TU.org website and search "dams", or go to the websites of our conservation partners listed on our website under the Conservation tab, and read what they have to say on the subject. I think you will come to the same realization that I did. We must all convince our neighbors and civic leaders that unnecessary head-of-tide dams must go even if it means some individual sacrifice. Be sensitive to their anxiety toward change, but be firm and honest. Also be aware that this is only the first step in a long journey of change.

Please contact me if you need any assistance with this effort and thank you.

Mitch Kalter
m.kalter@comcast.net

*The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the individual writer and not necessarily those of Trout Unlimited.