NFC Plants Trees on Wild Native Brook Trout Stream in New Hampshire: Coming Full Circle...

In fall 2023, NFC National Chair Emily Bastian and Executive Director Bob Mallard stumbled on a fish blocking manmade rock dam on a wild native brook trout headwater stream in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. As part of an NFC wide project, they breached the dam so the fish could pass…

As the water dropped, Emily and Bob noticed that the stream was flowing under not through a road culvert just upstream. While the dam backed water up into the lower end of the culvert, the upstream flow seeped through numerous rust holes at the upper end of the culvert leaving the middle section dry.

While NFC would like to see the culvert replaced, things have been slow to happen due to jurisdictional confusion, a lack of funds, and sadly, a lack of interest on the part of those we would need help from to make it happen. As is often the case, the focus is on larger streams.

While surveying the stream the next spring to determine the impact of the often-impassable culvert, NFC came across a streamside logging cut. Five or so adult trees had been cut from within 10 feet of the water, and a down sloping hill was clearcut to get to them.

A season long temperature monitoring effort by NH NFC determined that the loss of canopy was having a negative impact on the water temperature. We reached out to the landowner who purchased the property shortly after it was logged. Fortunately, they were fully supportive of an effort to mitigate the problem…

Later that year, NFC was a beneficiary of a multi-day Tenkara event sponsored by Red Brook Tenkara and held at Big Day Brewing in the White Mountains region. South Carolina NFC Vice Chair Amanda Hoffner, aka Lady Tenkara Bum, coordinated a raffle and NH NFC Chair Aliess John sold schwag.

Money raised at the event was used to purchase 125 native live stake trees and 6 adult trees to replant a short section of Unnamed Brook as well as the hill leading down to it. Using money raised roughly 15 miles as the crow flies from the stream where it was used should make everyone involved feel good about how their money was spent…

NFCers from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine showed up in support of the tree planting. In addition to planting the trees, the group cleared small run-off channels on the hill to fix ruts and stagnant pools left by heavy equipment. They also cleared new growth around desirable tree species that had taken root to allow them to grow.