Fall is Rock Dam Removal Time...
While retrieving temperature loggers from a small stream in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, NFC National Chair Emily Bastian and Executive Director Bob Mallard encountered one of what is likely many manmade rock dams left behind by careless recreationists and landowners.
As fallen leaves collect on the top of the dam, and the water drops to fall levels, these manmade rock dams can block fish-passage. This is especially problematic in the fall as wild native brook trout are moving to spawn, as well as to find winter refuge.
An informational sign posted on the Beaver River in Rhode Island by NFC and other organizations and agencies.
As NFC has done in the past, and encourage others to do, Emily pulled rocks from the top of the dam until the water was flowing free and fish could easily pass.
We advise allowing the rocks you remove to settle at the base of the dam so as to limit the disruption to the streambed. It’s fair to assume that the rocks came from the immediate vicinity, so leaving them there is the best option. It also helps provide some level of stepped access.
