There was an interesting article in the Spring Northern Woodlands magazine about improving fish habitat and stream and river health by restoring the streams to their conditions prior to logging and development. THey used Nash Stream as an example, but there are other projects in the region like "chop and drop" being used on the headwaters and main channels of the Sunday River in Bethel. Unfortunately the Northern Woodland article isnt on line, but I highly recomend trying to find one, probably at a local library.
Bascially the premise is that during the logging era, loggers would straighten out water courses to make them more suitable for logging drives. they would alos remove major boulders and other objects that may entrap trees. One of Pikes logging books makes reference to loggin crews working during the off season to accomplish this task. I have also seen reference to major alterations that wer done to rivers in VT where there is evidence of many old mill ponds where fast moving water was dammed, whihc resulted in sediment buildup up stream, which then tended to form a straight channel when the dam eventually failed. They also discuss the impact of installed culverts that discharge at an elevation above the streambed which acts tpe prevent fish migration. With exception of most culverts, all those alterations have helped recreational paddlers and probably has opened up previoulsy unnavigable waters.
The research at Nash Stream and elsewhere is to intentionaly create blocked rivers by reintroducing trees, root clumps and boulders back into the channel to crewat pools and eddies. They have some pretty good research that the fishery improves, but I expect the spring paddling sure is impacted.
So the question is (after a long introduction), is this something to consider when paddling smaller stream and rivers? In the past, I know of many folks in the past who would carry hand saws and cut passages through snags in the river, other groups were far more aggresive and used chainsaws and comealongs to drag obstructions out of rivers. Granted I dont get much exposure to the paddling trends these days, but was wondering what do the folks on the forum think of this? When I used to follow a New England Paddlers forum several years ago, the saw and drag approach to open up rivers was still discussed so its not ancient history.
Bascially the premise is that during the logging era, loggers would straighten out water courses to make them more suitable for logging drives. they would alos remove major boulders and other objects that may entrap trees. One of Pikes logging books makes reference to loggin crews working during the off season to accomplish this task. I have also seen reference to major alterations that wer done to rivers in VT where there is evidence of many old mill ponds where fast moving water was dammed, whihc resulted in sediment buildup up stream, which then tended to form a straight channel when the dam eventually failed. They also discuss the impact of installed culverts that discharge at an elevation above the streambed which acts tpe prevent fish migration. With exception of most culverts, all those alterations have helped recreational paddlers and probably has opened up previoulsy unnavigable waters.
The research at Nash Stream and elsewhere is to intentionaly create blocked rivers by reintroducing trees, root clumps and boulders back into the channel to crewat pools and eddies. They have some pretty good research that the fishery improves, but I expect the spring paddling sure is impacted.
So the question is (after a long introduction), is this something to consider when paddling smaller stream and rivers? In the past, I know of many folks in the past who would carry hand saws and cut passages through snags in the river, other groups were far more aggresive and used chainsaws and comealongs to drag obstructions out of rivers. Granted I dont get much exposure to the paddling trends these days, but was wondering what do the folks on the forum think of this? When I used to follow a New England Paddlers forum several years ago, the saw and drag approach to open up rivers was still discussed so its not ancient history.
