|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Newton, MA, February 6, 2009---The MA/RI Council sent a letter today to Secretary Ian Bowles, Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, supporting the designation of the Upper Housatonic River as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). The proposal was originally made by the Save the Housatonic Coalition.
In a January 29, 2009 presentation made by Gene Chague of the TU Taconic Chapter to Secretary Bowles, Mr. Chague told the Secretary both the Taconic Chapter and the Council supported this designation as protection necessary to preserve wild brook trout habitat in tributaries to the Housatonic. "Although it has been determined by the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture that most populations of wild brook trout in Massachusetts have been classified as reduced, greatly reduced or extirpated, there still remain some intact populations in the Berkshires, especially in the feeder streams which feed the Housatonic River from both sides of the river and which are part of the ACEC area. This is one of the few places in the state where they still exist and we are concerned about their protection."
Gene also told Secretary Bowles that the ACEC designation would help protect trout in the mainstem of the Housatonic in the recently designated Catch and Release areas in Lee and Glendale. DFW fisheries biologists have stated that while the fishery is a success, the water temperature in the summer is on the high end of what trout can tolerate. Any project which would raise the water temperature by a few degrees could spell disaster for this trout fishery.
In his February 6, 2009 letter to Secretary Bowles, Council Chairman Peter M. Schilling emphasized how important maintaining connectivity in a watershed is for trout populations to thrive. "Wild brook trout will migrate to the mainstem of the Housatonic (from tributaries) at various times of the year for safety and food," Mr. Schilling states. "It is essential to maintain this connectivity and to protect the entire watershed if wild brook trout are going to be able to survive in Massachusetts."
Click here to read the letter in its entirety.