Volunteer Spotlight: Survey and Sign...

Jerry Derosier is what NFC calls an all-star wild native fish volunteer. He’s surveyed waters to determine if wild native brook trout are present, an effort that has resulted in a number of waters being added to Maine’s State Heritage Fish (SHF) list, and he’s closed the loop by posting SHF informational signs on many of those waters.

Prior to getting involved in Maine NFC’s State Heritage Fish Sign initiative, Jerry worked with NFC National Vice Chair, former ME NFC Chair, and SHF Sign Project Leader, on the ME Audubon/ME TU/Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Remote Pod Survey project, a project Emily headed up for roughly five years.

To date, Jerry has posted a total of 45 signs on 32 waters, the second highest number in each respective category. And he has signed up for another couple of waters, and I suspect he’ll sign up for more. Jerry has posted waters in Aroostook, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties. He also replaced a damaged sign in York County for us.

In August of 2018, then Maine NFC Chair Emily Bastian (and current National Vice Chair) and former National Vice Chair Bob Mallard (now Executive Director) met Jerry and a young protégé, Lincoln Kelley, to post signs on three waters in northern Somerset County. Jerry had surveyed each of the for the Remote Pond project and wanted to close the loop. Two had trails and one was trailless.

Without the support of volunteers like Jerry, our Maine State Heritage Fish sign initiative would not be possible. With 584 waters and growing, and a geography distribution that covers most of the state, the manpower requirements would be impossible for any organization or agency to absorb.

Big shout out to Jerry and the rest of the volunteers who have donated their time to help protect these invaluable and irreplaceable wild native trout resources.