> Interviews

Lewis Csedrik and John Hunt: Protecting and Restoring Urban Trout Streams

Lewis Csedrik is a Conservation Resource Assistant at the national headquarters of Trout Unlimited in Arlington, Virginia. He shares information on the Embrace-a-Stream Program, TU's grant program building healthier water habitat.

 

John Hunt is the volunteer vice-chair of the Minnesota Council of Trout Unlimited and primary technical reviewer of projects that may impact trout streams in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.


WaterLaws: What is Trout Unlimited and what does it have to do with management of waterways?

Mr. Csedrik: Trout Unlimited is a 501(3)(c) non-profit corporation, funded in part by membership, whose mission is to conserve and protect coldwater fisheries. We support habitat improvements to bring waterways back to a level that will support salmon and trout. TU has chapters throughout the United States and some fledgling international groups.

WaterLaws: Who joins Trout Unlimited?

Mr. Csedrik: We have about 100,000 members in the United States--primarily fly fishers and conservationists.

WaterLaws: So, Trout Unlimited focuses on fish?

Mr. Csedrik: Yes, but you could expand that to say that we focus on maintaining and renewing one segment of the natural habitat – streams and native trout and salmon that need those natural conditions to survive.

WaterLaws: As you look at the picture nationally, what are the issues facing trout these days?

Mr. Csedrik: Degraded streams! Streams suffer from:

  • Poor grazing practices

  • Pollution from mining

  • Damage caused by hydro projects

  • Temperature pollution which also causes changes in vegetation

  • Degradation of stream beds

  • Urban development and stormwater runoff

  • Fertilizers from farm runoff.

WaterLaws: What do you see as the major concerns on this list?

Mr. Csedrik: Hydropower! It's incorrectly viewed as a completely safe alternative to other forms of energy, but it is very damaging to wetlands and ecosystems for fish, animals, and birds. It is a big issue that is often overlooked. For fish, specifically, it blocks fish passage and changes upstream habitat and temperature.

WaterLaws: How does Trout Unlimited build up fish resources?

Mr. Csedrik: We have a grant program called Embrace-a-Stream, started in 1975. This year TU will give out $230,000 as seed money to fund conservation efforts. We will be fully funding 37 projects and partially funding 7 more. Now, some of these are ongoing projects. TU may give up to $10,000 in matching funds--$10,000 is the max per project--to start projects that have a long-range scope, many small projects over time aimed at improving trout and salmon habitat in a particular stream.

WaterLaws: What are your funds designated for?

Mr. Csedrik: Resources, research, education.

WaterLaws: What are some of your favorite examples of funding projects through the Embrace-a-Stream Program? Let's focus on urban streams.

Mr. Csedrik: In Salt Lake City, Utah, City Creek runs right into the city. Embrace-a-Stream fully funded one phase of an ongoing project aimed at improving the habitat for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, a "state-sensitive species."

WaterLaws: Tell us about the "state-sensitive" term.

Mr. Csedrik: It's on the continuum with "endangered." A state sensitive species is not yet endangered but needs to be protected.

WaterLaws: What did TU sponsor in City Creek?

Mr. Csedrik: The project focused on restoration of the streambed, including revegetating banks in two different areas. There was a culvert with inadequate capacity causing unnecessary erosion÷the project got rid of that. Then, there was reinforcement of the banks and replanting of native plants to prevent erosion and also to cool the stream. Trout are very temperature sensitive. There was also an education component to that project. They created and posted signs with a synopsis of the long-term project and details of that stage of completion.

WaterLaws: Why such an emphasis on education?

Mr. Csedrik: Education is increasingly a component of recreation development projects. People are interested in conservation and preservation. Also, when the public and stream users understand the nature of the conservation and protection projects underway, they support what's being done, are more aware of how their actions impact the stream and, in this case, the fish.

WaterLaws: Can you tell me about another urban project that impresses you?

Mr. Csedrik: There's one coming up in Lagunitas Creek, just outside the San Francisco Bay Area. It's a Coho Salmon spawning area. It's potentially very high profile because of the nature of the project and the population of the area.

WaterLaws: What work is Embrace-a-Stream funding there?

Mr. Csedrik: Our program is one of several helping out with the first phase of the work, part of which centers around an old, obsolete dam. There are two proposals to make the dam passable to the Coho Salmon. One is removal of the dam. The other is building a staircase for the fish to use to get upstream to spawn.

WaterLaws: Are you talking about one of those concrete "fish sidewalks" that require the fish to jump into every pool?

Mr. Csedrik: No, this would be a more natural kind of ladder, running alongside the stream and developed out of natural rocks and boulders. It would give fish a way to get upstream that is more like their native passageways.

WaterLaws: How about any TU projects East of the Mississippi?

Mr. Csedrik: In Pittsburgh, we are helping to convert a put-and-take-fishery in a stream with temperature pollution to bring it to the level of a self-sustaining coldwater fishery.

WaterLaws: How are you doing that?

Mr. Csedrik: The object is to restore the stream to allow the fish population to continue naturally. It involves deepening of the channel, adding an in-stream structure to create ripples, and adding cover to the stream bank to lower water temperatures.

WaterLaws: What kind of in-stream structure are you talking about?

Mr. Csedrik: In this instance it is the creation of a triangular bank or deflector made of logs and larger rocks on either side of the channel. This will increase the velocity of the stream, adding oxygen and causing the silt to wash away. What will be left is the gravel bed, an improved spawning ground.

WaterLaws: And then you stock the stream?

Mr. Csedrik: The goal is to return the stream to a habitat that will support the ongoing reproduction of the trout÷to provide the fish with a more natural environment, where they will spawn. Stocking alone on the other hand is kind of a desperate measure where you've done something wrong for too long. I don't favor it. And it may be one of the factors contributing in the West to Whirling Disease.

WaterLaws: Whirling Disease – what's that?

Mr. Csedrik: It's a condition where fish lose their equilibrium, swim in circles, uncontrollably.

WaterLaws: What causes it?

Mr. Csedrik: One of the factors is stocking infected fish into waters.

WaterLaws: Is this one of those Oprah Winfrey and mad-cow-disease statements?

Mr. Csedrik: No, experts tell me there's no problem eating those fish!

WaterLaws: Are there other projects TU is especially proud of supporting?

Mr. Csedrik: Yes! Let me refer you to a TU member in your own area, John Hunt, who is involved in several projects in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region. John is the volunteer vice-chair of the Minnesota Council of Trout Unlimited and primary technical reviewer of projects that may impact trout streams in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.

WaterLaws: John, you bring an environmental and civil engineering perspective to the problems of urban streams. Is it possible to maintain a trout stream in a developed urban environment?

Mr. Hunt: It depends on where the stream is in the process and what the resources are to provide a solution.

WaterLaws: Give me an example.

Mr. Hunt: One of the primary issues is whether there is adequate stormwater management in the stream's watershed.

WaterLaws: Are you talking about the effects of added nutrients and chemicals from road runoff and lawn fertilizers?

Mr. Hunt: Additional phosphorous and nitrogen may be involved, but a more critical problem is that of thermal pollution. The preferred range of stream temperatures for trout may be in the 50-60 degrees F range. With runoff from asphalt areas, you may get water that is heated to 70-80 degrees F. The stress on the fish is more than most can sustain.

WaterLaws: What can you do to deal with thermal pollution?

Mr. Hunt: In the Shakopee and Savage area south of Minneapolis, we addressed the runoff issue by creating a greenway corridor along the stream. That area is already in the midst of development, so land is relatively expensive. Ultimately, the State of Minnesota bonded over $1,000,000 to purchase land to protect the waterway.

WaterLaws: What are alternatives to the big budget solutions?

Mr. Hunt: Careful land-use planning will normally take sensitive environmental resources (such as trout streams) into account. If greenways are the best solution, they are more affordable if purchased before land is zoned for residential or commercial development.

WaterLaws: Planning ahead--what about the urban streambeds that are already developed and are in jeopardy? Can a developed urban environment still support trout streams?

Mr. Hunt: Each stream has a limiting factor which inhibits its ability to support trout in the stream. For some its lack of a spawning habitat, for others a lack of rearing area for juvenile fish. We work with the fish biologists to determine what are the particular limiting factors and work to correct those. Different portions of the same stream may require different treatment and will depend on the management goals for fisheries in that waterway.

WaterLaws: What is a particularly encouraging project that you are involved in at present?

Mr. Hunt: The Twin Cities Chapter of TU is involved in a watershed project in the Brown's Creek area of the St. Croix River valley outside of Stillwater, the oldest settlement in Minnesota, which was established as a lumber town in the mid-1800s. The old streambed was redirected to a marsh area, apparently to run a mill. The project is routing the stream through an existing golf course, which will make the flow and the temperature more conducive to supporting trout populations.

WaterLaws: How can a concerned citizen access Trout Unlimited's Embrace-a-Stream Program?

Mr. Hunt: Either by starting a local chapter of TU or by approaching an existing chapter with an idea for a project. The application is relatively simple. It involves about five pages, part of which requires technical input to insure that the project is feasible and workable. The deadline for applications is mid-December, and grants are announced in April.

WaterLaws: How can our readers reach our Water Guests and Trout Unlimited?

Mr. Hunt: Lewis Csedrick can be reached at Mr. Csedriksedrick@TU.org

Trout Unlimited National Headquarters can be reached at: www.TU.org

Trout Unlimited
1500 Wilson Blvd.
Suite 310
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: 703.522.0200

John Hunt and Minnesota Chapter of Trout Unlimited can be contacted through:

Elliott Olson, Council Chairman
1500 Xanthus Lane
Plymouth, MN 55447
612/470-0078

 

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