Smith River TU....check it out!

Started by outdoorguy3, February 11, 2006, 10:24:11 AM

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outdoorguy3

 Here's what is going to be going on at the next SRTU meeting on March 2, 2006.


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The Smith River Trout Unlimited (SRTU), Chapter 264 will host a multi-agency Smith River update at our March 2, 2006 dinner meeting being held at 7:00 pm at Riana's  Restaurant, Martinsville, VA. 

We have invited Wilmington District-COE, Philpott Lake Manager-COE, Virginia Dominion Power, Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries to participate. 

By bringing all concerned agencies together, we hope to hear the latest status of efforts to improve the Smith River fishery. Because any improvement in the fishery will also give a boost to the tourism initiative currently under way in the Henry County / Martinsville area, our meeting will be widely advertised and open to the public. 

All you folks who have an interest in the Smith River fishery should mark Thursday, March 2, 2006 on your calendar.  For more information contact the chapter chair, Shane Pinkston at (276) 638-3757 or shane@southprintinc.com  or the chapter vice chair, Al Kittredge at (910) 868-6235 or aakitt@earthlink.net .
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Anyone interested, please come and join us!

Ralph  ;D
Life's about havin' FUN!!!

Al

This thing is really coming together. In the last two days I've had phone calls from the Wilmington COE and Philpott Dam accepting our invitation to participate in this multi-agency meeting. We have previously received email acceptances from VA Tech and VDGIF. Still no official word from DOM but I expect they will attend.

You folks who fish the Smith, or anyone who has an interest in how the Smith and other regional fisheries are managed should plan to attend. Clean out your ears and start formulating questions, because it is not often that we see all these agencies who can have a positive or negative effect on our waters all in the same room at the same time.

Silence is not "golden". We saw what pulling together can do last summer when we spoke up with enough force to reverse decisions that prompted the "Smith River Generation Woes" thread http://www.southeastflyfishingforum.com/showthread.php?t=6866&highlight=Smith+River+Generation+Woes . Let's show up, listen, and if necessary voice our concerns so that the rest of the job gets  done.




Al

Here is link to story in Roanoke Times which sent their Outdoor reporter Mark Taylor to cover the meeting. http://www.roanoke.com//outdoors/wb/55471

Al

I lifted the following story from the March 3rd issue of the Martinsville Bulletin.

Protecting trout, Smith River complex issue

By SHAWN HOPKINS
Bulletin Staff Writer
Protecting the future of brown trout in the Smith River is not a simple proposition, according to a panel at a Smith River Trout Unlimited meeting Thursday.

Efforts to increase the declining trout population must be balanced with flood control efforts, power generation needs and protecting the endangered log perch, so it is not as clear-cut as changing water release schedules at Philpott Dam, officials said.

However, those who attended the meeting said they came away with an increased sense that a compromise that would help increase the trout as an eco-tourism resource is possible.

"I think we have worked some things out," said Shane Pinkston, president of the Smith River chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Bryant Brooks, with Dominion Power Government/Community Affairs Department, made what Pinkston considered to be a key concession.
Brooks said the company would consider weekend generation, even though that would cost it money. He said that although the cost of doing so had to be considered, the ecological cost of not doing so also had to be looked at.

Brooks said Dominion would be a "willing partner" in discussions about the trout. "We think we can work it out," he said.

Pinkston said this type of weekend releases would provide more cold water during the weekend. He said the shock of the change from the warmer water in the weekend to cold water on Monday is bad for the trout.

Scott Smith, a biologist from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, explained how the trout have declined in the past decade.
Smith said that although the stream once was a good place to catch trophy-class fish, in recent years that statistic has fallen. Smith said that in the 1990s the department was certifying an average of 21/2 fish that weigh in excess of 5 pounds a year, but in this decade it has dropped to around one every five years.

The lack of trophy-level fish makes the river less attractive to tourist fishermen, he said, and there are better rivers for trout nearby. The fish are living shorter lives and growing to smaller sizes, he said.
"We can't find any fish older than six years old," he said. Smith said if problems affecting the fish habitats are not corrected, the problem will continue to worsen.

Don Orth, professor of fisheries science with Virginia Tech, said that college's study shows that the trout have been in a long-term gradual decline consistent with the degradation of their habitat.

He said the fact that the endangered log perch has been found in the main part of the stream "complicates things" because, in plans to help the trout, the log perch also must be protected. But, he said, it is possible to help both populations.

He said one obvious problem is the sediment that has accumulated in the stream, something fishermen can feel when they wade in it.
Orth said there's no "quick fix" for the problems, which took 50 years to develop, but it is possible to develop a plan to start turning the situation around.

Bud Laroche, another VDGIF fisheries biologist, said there is a study in the works to develop a plan for the river's best use, balancing the needs for flood control, power generation, the need to protect the endangered log perch and what is best for the trout.

He said the eventual plan would be a tradeoff between these interests.
However, he told the group, that study may take years to complete, may cost as much as $2 million and faces significant funding hurdles.

Neil Myers, chief of Lakes Division for the Wilmington Corps of Engineers, reminded the crowd of Philpott Dam's obligations on flood control and power generation, and the limits they place on plans to structure water releases to improve conditions for the trout.

However, he said, instead of waiting for the study, he is interested in getting a group together to talk about changes the corps can make within its current operating structure to improve the situation, adding later there might be a small amount of funding available to pay for this effort. He said he also welcomed suggestions. "I am interested in what I can do for you lately," he said.

Karl Hess, biologist for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that although the health of the log perch is his organization's priority, it is willing to work on solutions that would help both fish.

Hess said the type of grassroots efforts that resulted in the effort to help the trout are the key to improving the situation. "The solution is going to come from the people who live here," he said.

Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman H.G. Vaughn said that for too many years the Smith River was thought of primarily in terms of how it could serve industry. He said local people are just now starting to do what they should have done long ago -- protecting the resource that the area has in the Smith River.

He said he was hopeful that working together the various groups "will come to some solution to what we can do to bring back the fishery over there."
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phg

That sounds pretty positive all way around.