The View From Above: Trout Brook - Dover, Massachusetts...

**Massachusetts NFC volunteer Andrew Metters and MA NFC Board Member Brian Hutchison prepare to launch a drone to take a look at a difficult to access section of Trout Brook in Dover, Massachusetts…**

The Massachusetts chapter of NFC is wrapping up a 2-year assessment of Trout Brook in Dover, Massachusetts. This unique wild native brook trout coldwater ecosystem has changed notably in the last generation, and not for the better. We will be presenting our findings along with recommendations in regard to trying to mitigating some of what is negatively impacting the stream.

Having walked or paddled much of Trout Brook, one important section had proven to be nearly impossible to access via foot or canoe. To make sure that we had a full understand of what was going on, MA NFC board member Brian Hutchison recruited his friend Andrew Metters to use his drone to get some video and pictures k of the section of stream.

Based on historic fish survey data as well as firsthand knowledge from NFC Executive Director Bob Mallard who fished Trout Brook as a teen nearly 50 years ago, the area in question was arguably the most productive spot on the stream for wild native brook trout. After flowing through an extensive floodplain, Trout Brook ran free over a firm gravel bottom for a few hundred yards before it hit the next floodplain.

As we feared, and as had happened throughout Trout Brook, the section of stream in question had been altered and impounded by heavy beaver activity. The network of beaver dams which start within a couple of hundred feet of the road crossing have widened and deepened the channel, created side channels, slowed the current, and most likely buried the gravel bottom beneath inches of mud.

While beavers are part of the natural order, sans any natural predators, and in the case of Massachusetts a prohibition on recreational trapping, abundance can become an issue. Beavers have clearly had an impact on Trout Brook in regard to channel width and depth, water temperature, and fish passage. In fact, while there are other contributing factors, Trout Brook is no longer performing as a coldwater system.