Goals
The White Mountain National Forest, a popular New England vacation destination, is home to hundreds of miles of hiking trails spanning over 4,000-foot mountaintops, 1,250 square miles of wilderness and 600 miles of rivers and streams.
The relatively steep topography makes these streams great candidates for strong Atlantic salmon and brook trout populations. When Tropical Storm Irene tore through New England in August of 2011, it flooded and damaged trail and road infrastructure. This caused not only ruined trails and roads, but also created fish passage barriers and produced heavy sedimentation throughout watersheds such as those of the Pemigewasset, Israel, Saco, Swift, Wildcat, Ellis and Ammonoosuc Rivers.
Trout Unlimited assisted the National Forest Foundation and its partners over the three years not only to rebuild infrastructure from the ground up, but also to better prepare for large storms while improving trout and salmon habitat. This effort involved multiple federal, state, and non-profit organizations, along with many local volunteers who will be helping to preserve the natural beauty of the White Mountains for generations to come.
Tactics
Trout Unlimited has begun to focus on decommissioning poorly placed trails, stabilizing eroding riverbanks and restoring floodplains that had been impacted by those roads. Another focus is restoring trout habitat connectivity and reducing future flood vulnerability by replacing culverts and bridges. In most cases, decommissioned roads and trails will be replaced by trails that will minimize environmental impacts on streams.
Trout Unlimited and its partners have teamed up to decommission the trail and two culverts that failed in Tropical Storm Irene. The trail will be relocated in late spring of 2015 to a site that reuses a decommissioned road, with TU and its partners replacing two culverts at the new location with a pair of bridges. Once completed, the project will reconnect 18 miles of headwater stream access and prime cold-water brook trout habitat.
Trout Unlimited helped review decommissioning of poorly placed trails, stabilizing eroding riverbanks and restoring floodplains that had been impacted by those trails and roads. Another focus was to restore trout habitat connectivity and reduce future flood vulnerability by replacing culverts and with appropriately sized bridges. In most cases, decommissioned roads and trails will be replaced by trails that will minimize environmental impacts on streams.
TU and its partners assessed a particularly devastated site between the Lincoln Woods and the Franconia Brook tent site. The affected area is a trail that ran alongside the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River known as the Eastside Road and provided USFS motor vehicle access to maintain a remote group tent site. Heavy trail erosion coupled with failed stream crossings created heavy sedimentation issues.
Trout Unlimited and its partners teamed up to decommission a portion of the Eastside Trail and to remove three undersized culverts that failed during Tropical Storm Irene. The trail ran close to the river’s edge and was relocated to a new location above the floodplain. TU and its partners replaced two failed culverts with new bridges, installed two bridges over streams along the new roadway, and decommissioned three other major culverts (see picture above) along the stretch of decommissioned road. Now completed, the project reconnected 18 miles of headwater stream access and prime cold-water brook trout habitat.
Victories
Trout Unlimited leveraged more than $500,000 in funding to work on this project. In addition, the restoration designs and permits were overseen by TU staff and replacement bridges selection coordinated by TU are now installed and successfully passing all high flow events without unnecessary erosion.
Project partners include: US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, New Hampshire Fish & Game Department, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Staff Contact
Colin Lawson, New England Culvert Project Coordinator
Author of this Page
Colin Lawson, New England Culvert Project Coordinator
clawson@tu.org Places White Mountain National Forest Lincoln New Hampshire Kancamagus Highway Franconia Notch New Hampshire Species
Solutions Restore Programs Eastern Conservation Risks to Fishing Reduced Stream Flows