Germania Branch

[mattwolf]

Went up to Northern Clinton and Potter Counties this weekend to do a little fishing. Lots of water in the bigger and smaller streams which was nice to see for this time of year. I fished the Germania Branch along Rausch Road in the state forest area. The stream was great, but it looks like someone went along the stream for a mile plus and cut down trees over the stream. There were trees cut down every 50 feet to 50 yards. Not sure why someone would think they have the right to cut down trees that are on state forest ground just for something to do. I hope the owners of the state least camps in that area try to figure out who did this and turn them in. It made it extremely difficult for my friend who went with me and is pushing 80 to get around on that section of public stream. If anyone has any idea who may have done this please make sure you contact the proper authorities and have it reported.

 

[wildtrout2]

mattwolf wrote: ... please make sure you contact the proper authorities and have it reported.

It sounds like you should have done exactly that.

 

[mattwolf]

I talked to DCNR forester yesterday when I got home, but I am sure the property owners know who it is. They should have game cams out. Unless it was the property owners.

 

[RLeep2]

It's possible, although based on your description, I don't know if it could be considered likely, that you may have been there in the middle of something the state forestry (DCNR) people were doing. They may have had one crew come in and do the cuts and before too long, another crew comes in and removes the downed trees. And you got there in the in-between time..

One way to find out or even to report what you saw is to contact the assigned county forester for that area. Here's a pdf with the names/phones/e-mails of the foresters:

http://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=3593430&DocName=Service%20Forester%20List%20March%202021.pdf

 

[mattwolf]

These trees were cut a while ago. You could tell they were deliberately cut in the direction of the stream. My friend is a forester in Sproul and he is going to contact someone from Susquehannock to look into it.

 

[BradFromPotter]

The same thing has be done on Sliders Road. How far up from the bridge on Rausch Rd where you fishing?

I thought there was an earlier post this year that said that the state might have done this.

 

[Swattie87]

It was likely done deliberately by, or with the authorization of, DCNR to aid in woody debris habitat. I haven’t fished GB in a number of years, but I’ve seen the stretch on Upper Kettle and there’s a similar stretch on lower Hammersley Fork where this was done too. Supposed to be good for the fish, but agree it makes it a PITA to fish up through those sections. Nothing illegal or illicit done more than likely though.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Main stem of kettle has this fro. A little above the 44 bridge upstream towards Rausch Rd. I know that atretch was a deliberate attempt to add more large woody habitat features into the stream. It appeared they mostly cut ash and some barely made it into the floodplain. The ones that did make it out into the stream created some nice habitat to fish around. I understand this can be difficult to fish around on small streams, but it can provide excellent habitat for the fish.

 

[salvelinus]

They felled the trees on upper Kettle a couple years ago. It was done strictly for habitat.

 

[troutbert]

Swattie87 wrote:
It was likely done deliberately by, or with the authorization of, DCNR to aid in woody debris habitat. I haven’t fished GB in a number of years, but I’ve seen the stretch on Upper Kettle and there’s a similar stretch on lower Hammersley Fork where this was done too.

Yes, DCNR is doing this to add large wood debris to streams to help fish habitat (creation of pools and cover).

I saw a presentation about this by DCNR, have read about it, and have seen it on several streams.

They've been doing this in the Pacific Northwest for many years, since the 1980s or so.

And it recently began here in PA, about 40 years later.

 

[jifigz]

Yeah, I don't see anyone spending their time, wear and tear on their chainsaw, and gas to cut trees into the stream just for the heck of it. Especially not purposefully to be a jerk or a rebel..as others have stated I'm sure it's done by DCNR with good intentions in mind.

 

[troutbert]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cldmo30S9Os

A DCNR person explains the large woody debris additions.

From about 7:07 to 9:43 in the video.

PFBC's Wild Trout Summit, August 2017.

 

[mattwolf]

All good points and thanks for sharing. However, most of these trees did not make it into the water. Most were over the stream and not touching the water, and from what I noticed there was already plenty of trees laying in the water naturally. It may have been done by DCNR, but from what a forester from Sproul told me, he wasn't aware that this was done by his counterpart. I just hope that people don't start taking things into their own hands on public ground. I am all for doing what biologist think is best for fish and stream protection, but it needs to be done properly and in conjunction with the right agencies.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

mattwolf wrote:
All good points and thanks for sharing. However, most of these trees did not make it into the water. Most were over the stream and not touching the water, and from what I noticed there was already plenty of trees laying in the water naturally. It may have been done by DCNR, but from what a forester from Sproul told me, he wasn't aware that this was done by his counterpart. I just hope that people don't start taking things into their own hands on public ground. I am all for doing what biologist think is best for fish and stream protection, but it needs to be done properly and in conjunction with the right agencies.

Agreed so the question is did you report the activity to the authorities? Not your friend who is a forester in another district... I would recommend you contact the Susquehannock DCNR Office yourself and perhaps the PFBC Northcentral Office if you believe this was illegal activity. The directional felling of trees into streams requires a Chp 105 permit, loggers are even required to remove treetops from streams. Obviously private individuals are not allowed to cut live trees anywhere on state owned property so that is a potential issue in and of itself.

 

[troutbert]

Even when the trees are over the water at moderate flow levels, they can influence the stream flows when the water is high.

Also, as with natural tree falling over streams, at first the tree may be elevated well above the water, but over time as some of the branches weaken, the trees "settles in" lower to the water.

 

[Prospector]

I believe the trees that were felled in Hammersley were funded by TU a few summers ago. There are many stream improvement projects on the agenda up there. It seems the funding comes from a variety of sources including TU, clubs, and private donations. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of the work on the Germania Branch but there are some people who are plugged in up there who attend a variety of meetings. They would be good sources.

 

[afishinado]

Prospector wrote:
I believe the trees that were felled in Hammersley were funded by TU a few summers ago. There are many stream improvement projects on the agenda up there. It seems the funding comes from a variety of sources including TU, clubs, and private donations. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of the work on the Germania Branch but there are some people who are plugged in up there who attend a variety of meetings. They would be good sources.

troutbert wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cldmo30S9Os

A DCNR person explains the large woody debris additions.

From about 7:07 to 9:43 in the video.

PFBC's Wild Trout Summit, August 2017.

FYI, in the video link above posted by Troutbert, Germania Branch was mentioned by the PFBC rep as a project they recently worked on to add woody debris to the stream.

 

[troutbert]

afishinado wrote:

Prospector wrote:
I believe the trees that were felled in Hammersley were funded by TU a few summers ago. There are many stream improvement projects on the agenda up there. It seems the funding comes from a variety of sources including TU, clubs, and private donations. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of the work on the Germania Branch but there are some people who are plugged in up there who attend a variety of meetings. They would be good sources.

troutbert wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cldmo30S9Os

A DCNR person explains the large woody debris additions.

From about 7:07 to 9:43 in the video.

PFBC's Wild Trout Summit, August 2017.

FYI, in the video link above posted by Troutbert, Germania Branch was mentioned by the PFBC rep as a project they recently worked on to add woody debris to the stream.

That's right. So the Germania Branch work was definitely done by DCNR.

The project on Hammersley Fork is described here:
https://www.tu.org/magazine/conservation/wet-road-no-place-for-trout/

 

[wildtrout2]

Thanks for posting that link TB. The one channel spot is just downstream from the Young Duthchmen Camp. You can just see it in that pic. I saw the area where they re-routed the stream near Beach Bottom to it's original course. That was a real effort!

It's nice to see folks taking care of this jewel of a wild trout stream. Now, as Swatti mentioned, they need a gate at the ford. Give only the camp owners a key. Problem solved!