Donegal Creek - 'red barn' parking issue

Here's the latest on the parking issue as conveyed to DFCA members via e-mail:


1) Mr. Sterling owns the property with the "red barn." DO NOT park in front of this building which is now his home.

2) Mr. Sterling does not own the lane, Joe Wivell does. Joe does not mind if anglers park to the far left looking down the lane toward the creek.

3) The aforementioned spot is not large. Do not block the right-of-way. Do not park on the right side of the lane. If there is no parking available, proceed down Donegal Creek Road and pull off along the road just past the next house.

There was some talk at the DFCA meeting about parking at the old satellite dish location, but there were concerns about wear on the road leading down, access (the gate), runoff into the stream, etc. The owner of the land is Joe Wivell who owns much of the land in that area. A lot of ideas were kicked around, but for now the solution is listed above.
 
Thanks for the update; a pretty common sense approach...

Park where you're allowed. Don't park where you're not allowed ;-)

Hopefully, some rogue fisherperson doesn't take it upon themselves to "teach" the landowner a lesson, by assuming fishing rights trump property rights, and parking in front of the barn..
 
It would be prudent to put a sign on the left side of the road stating to park on the left side only. No parking on the right side.

Left to their own devices people will screw this up.
 
Maurice: Very good suggestion. Sounds like there are parallels between the old Muddy Creek problem and this one on Donegal. We will be out on Donegal again this summer to evaluate the RT fingerling stocking success as well as determine whether or not the stream once again supports a Class A equivalent BT population. Given the access concerns, it is possible that access (parking and posting) will also be evaluated on the same trip.
 
Re: Troutbert post #18 above:
The improvement in wild trout abundance may have occurred because stream temps in summer could be cooler now that some riparian trees planted well upstream over a decade ago may be providing some shade.

The other possibility is that when I asked the cooperative nursery in to stop overly stocking the stream with adult fish (reduce their stocking rate) on top of our spring stocking of adult trout their compliance resulted in better survival of young wild trout through less being lost to predation by the high, long lasting density of stocked trout in this C&R situation. The response in the wild trout population was my intent following a 2001 survey of the stream that revealed depressed minnow populations within the FFO area and much larger populations in the regular stocked trout area upstream. The response in the wild brown trout was not guaranteed and I don't think anyone would have anticipated the full extent of the response. The logic was that if the minnows were depressed from predation by stocked trout, then the wild trout fingerlings may have been depressed by the same problem. This was a very unusual situation and I would not jump to conclusions about stockings in other streams and their impacts.

It was not the first time that I had asked a club to either reduce its stocking in a special reg area or else agree to PFBC not making inseason stockings so that the club could continue to stock without creating an overly high density of stocked trout. I have made these requests for various reasons, most commonly because there were just too many trout (trout rodeo-like) or the stream was one that gets very warm; this was the first time that the reason had anything to do with forage fish or wild trout fingerling abundance. In all cases the clubs have been very cooperative.


 
Thanks Mike. It's always interesting to hear about things that may be influencing trout populations, for better or for worse.

There have been people working on that stream, trying to improve things, since at least back around 1970 or so, and possible even back into the 1960s.

Back in the 1970s the population of wild trout in there was considered to be ZERO. Now it's at or near Class A wild browns. Amazing.


 
It would be nice if we could show our appreciation to mr Wivell somehow IMHO.

Maybe we could chip in and have the signs made for him ?
 
Btw - what road is the red barn on ?

Donegal is my back up plan tomorrow !
 
It is on Donegal Creek Road. There should be space for a vehicle or two there, but a lot of the other pulloffs still had snow on them this AM.
 
A great read and recovery. So Donegal has a decent population of wild Browns now it sounds? That's awesome. I may have to take a ride up to break in a new setup.
 
The 2014 population estimate was also a Class A equivalent and the RT fingerling survival from the fall, 2013 stocking was unacceptable, just as in the previous year. Additionally, only one adult RT from the 2012 fingerling stocking was found and extra electrofishing at a different area from the fixed sampling site had to be done to find that holdover fish. The fingerling program there will be abandoned following the required 2015 sampling.
 
The fingerling program there will be abandoned following the required 2015 sampling.
Click to expand...

Mike, what would be the next step?
 
Mike, is the data publicly available? If so, where could I find it?
 
Mike wrote:
The 2014 population estimate was also a Class A equivalent and the RT fingerling survival from the fall, 2013 stocking was unacceptable, just as in the previous year. Additionally, only one adult RT from the 2012 fingerling stocking was found and extra electrofishing at a different area from the fixed sampling site had to be done to find that holdover fish. The fingerling program there will be abandoned following the required 2015 sampling.
Click to expand...

Back a decade or more, it was hoped that fingerling stocking in streams that remained cool throughout the summer would be a great way to supplement or even eliminate stocking in streams that did not produce wild trout.

It appears that fingerling stocking is not very successful at all in many/most streams where it was attempted in PA. Back to the drawing board, I guess.
 
Started a new thread on fingerling programs in the General Forum.
 
Was Donegal have a wild BT population anymore? Thanks.
 
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