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HAPPY TRAILS, SALMON!

Project partners celebrate the restoration of Yokum Brook, and

Students release young salmon into their new home

May 11, 2007 (BECKET, Mass.) – Elementary school students from the Becket Washington School released about 300 young salmon into the newly restored Yokum Brook today. The salmon had been raised by the students in the school’s library over the winter and spring. The fish were given a rousing sendoff by their former caregivers, who lined up along the side of the river to sing “Happy Trails” as the fish adjusted to their new home.

The release was the highlight of an event celebrating the completion of an effort to restore river continuity and fish movement in Yokum Brook, a coldwater tributary to the West Branch of the Westfield River. The project included the removal of the Silk Mill dam in 2003 and the Ballou Dam in 2006, opening up approximately 30 miles of river downstream.

The restoration project was led by the Department of Fish and Game’s Riverways Program – in conjunction with the Town of Becket and a diversity of partners – and supported by numerous others, including Lowe’s, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  As a gesture of thanks for their support, project sponsors were presented with awards constructed out of actual pieces of the dam that they helped remove.

Opening up the river significantly improves migration and movement for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and eastern brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), making it easier for the fish to reach spawning and feeding habitat.

“Connectivity is essential to a river’s health,” said Bill Toomey of The Nature Conservancy, who attended the event. “Removal of the Ballou dam is a boost not only for salmon and brook trout, but for the whole watershed.” 

The Nature Conservancy recently completed a three-year, comprehensive survey of the road crossings and dams throughout 1,000 miles of rivers and streams in the Westfield River watershed.  The study found more than 300 bridges, culverts and dams causing substantial impediments to wildlife passage and critical river processes such as movement of sediment, nutrients and woody debris.

With its combined ecological and public safety benefits, the project is widely praised in the community, and has drawn financial support from Lowe’s, Riverways, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Northeast Utilities, the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Sweetwater Trust, Natural Resources Conservation Service, FishAmerica Foundation and Pro-line Manufacturing. Numerous other groups have provided in-kind support including providing essential engineering guidance and technical assistance during the planning stage.

“Yokum Brook is an excellent example of the successful public-private partnerships that are hallmarks of the Riverways Program,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles in a prepared statement. “This is truly a win-win project that not only improved public safety, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities, but also helped advance environmental education among local students.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.