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PHOTO: A thriving brook trout environment. (Submitted photo)
STETSON TOWNSHIP – Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust has begun an ambitious Eastern brook trout restoration project on the upper Kennebago river and its tributaries, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
A network of roads crisscrosses the watershed as the river and its tributaries wind toward Cupsuptic Lake. The project will replace culverts at these crossings that are undersized, in poor condition, or perched above the stream surface, removing barriers to fish passage.
Replacing these barriers is one of the first steps to reconnecting and restoring miles of critical brook trout spawning, rearing, and thermal refuge habitat. In a changing climate, these fish need access to deep, cold lakes and tributaries that offer asylum from higher water temperatures.
The Kennebago watershed supports one of the country’s most resilient, self-sustaining wild Eastern brook trout populations. The presence of cold well-oxygenated surficial groundwater, combined with high elevation creates a quality habitat that brook trout require to thrive. Eastern brook trout are essential indicators of New England’s long-term forest and aquatic ecosystem health.
RLHT completed a survey of all crossings on its land in the Kennebago watershed in October. RLHT staff and a USFWS river restoration specialist took detailed measurements of each culvert to determine if they were candidates for removal. The crew identified 10 crossings as barriers to aquatic organism passage. New bridges constructed out of concrete materials will allow passage of aquatic organisms, emulate natural stream channels, have a longer lifespan than standard steel culverts, and be less prone to washing out from extreme rain events or spring run-off.
Bridge construction will begin in the summer, and reconnect the upstream habitat on Otter Brook, Sol Brook, and two other tributaries.
In addition, a Trout Unlimited sawyer crew completed a large wood addition on Otter and Norton brooks. The introduction of felling large wood into streams gives complex structure and adequate cover for trout, trapping organic material in the stream on which macroinvertebrates feed. It restores floodplain connectivity, and contact with cold groundwater creates scour pools, catch and deposits sediment, and more. Pending the replacement of culverts, the further wood addition projects will continue into 2023.
