Public Use

Projects 

• Big South Fork Recreation with Habitat Protection

  The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is a focus for major conservation efforts due to the outstanding aquatic features found in the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. The park is also a favorite location for equestrian riders, cyclists, and hikers. Managing a park for such multiple uses, while conserving biodiversity, is wrought with challenges. read more >

• Habitat Data Collection on Buck Creek

  Restoration of native vegetation, streams, riparian zones and wetlands along Buck Creek and its tributaries is an ongoing project that needs physical habitat data specific to target species of fishes and mussels. The restoration effort is addressing Kentucky’s number one source of impairment — sedimentation and siltation. The overall goal is to tailor existing stream restoration efforts to benefit over 11 species of fish and mussels including sport fish, federally listed endangered species, and sensitive species in Buck Creek. read more >

• Cherokee National Forest Brook Trout Habitat

  Drought and stressed habitat conditions exacerbated natural competition for food and space between brook trout and rainbow trout in several creeks in the Cherokee National Forest. Both species, popular with anglers, were declining due to drought in recent years. By improving or restoring habitats, and removing rainbow trout from certain areas, both species can more easily thrive in the forest. read more >

• Reintroduce Brook Trout

  Brook trout, the only salmonid native to the southeast, have lost about 75% of theirhistoric range due to past logging activitiesand introduction of non-native trout. In 1993,the National Park Service identified 10 streams that can support native southern Appalachian brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). The long term goal is to restorehistoric range of habitat for this native species. read more >

• Community Control of ANS

  The Altamaha River Watershed Conservation Action Plan cites invasive species as one of the six highest ranked threats. One of the invasive species thriving in portions of the watershed is the flathead catfish, which cause environmental harm, threaten native species, and can change the recreational value of an area for anglers. read more >

• Restoration of Spawning Site on Ogeechee

  As part of a broader restoration effort, Georgia Wildlife Resources Division has been stocking robust redhorse (Moxostoma robustum), a species thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in Georgia’s Oconee River in the early 1990s. This species did not occur naturally in the Ogeechee River, but study indicated that the aquatic habitat there would probably support the robust redhorse. read more >