Conservation News Brief

Wild Brook Trout in the Winnicut

It is no secret that wild brook trout were found in stream surveys done in the Winnicut watershed around the time of the dam removal. Unfortunately, do to some road crossing culverts, especially one on Thompson Brook in Greenland, one of these populations do not have passage to the river and back. Being only a mile or so above tidal water, if stream connectivity were restored these fish would be only a short swim above tidal water.

GBTU is looking for donations to help fund PIT tags and PIT tag detectors to help monitor the movement of the brook trout before and after establishment of the fish passage. The possibility of developing a subpopulation of anadromous brook trout, or Salters, is very real based on the work done by Warren Winders and others in Massachusetts on Red Brook and other tributaries in that area.

For the complete story and pictures go to the new Winnicut Watershed:Thompson Brook Project page.(link to article).

Oyster River Designation

GBTU has come out in favor of Oyster River Designation under the state's Rivers Management and Protection Program. Comprehensive and coordinated watershed planning is essential to protect intact cold water habitat and recognize the problems that will require restoration and reconnection in the watershed. GBTU strongly supports these efforts. You can view the GBTU letter of support for Oyster River Designation by following this link.

Cocheco River Local Advisory Committee Update

Chair: Rick Healey - chelu@metrocast.net
Contact Information: 36A Railroad Ave
Gonic, NH 03839
(603) 332-0370

Meetings: Fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm at the Rochester City Hall, Conference Room, Rochester

Secretary: Jonathan Mitchell (GBTU Representative) - jmitchell490@myfairpoint.net

Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership Releases New 10 Year Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP)

After a year of public meetings for input and extensive research and discussion, the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) has released its new 10 year management plan for the Great Bay and Hampton-Seabrook estuaries and watersheds. The plan is extensive and ambitious and will rely on the efforts of many state government, municipal government, non-governmental agencies and non-profit conservations groups, like GBTU to make this plan successful. Go to http://www.prep.unh.edu/index.html to look at the plan and see how GBTU can contribute.