Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
ELMORE — A pair of environmental stewards have spent the summer trudging through Vermont forests with chainsaws, griphoists to lift and pull wood and rock bars, heavy-duty rods that can move large objects. They use the tools to place trees like speed humps across the headwaters of the Lamoille and Winooski rivers.
“There are a number of interconnected benefits of placing this wood as a natural component of the ecosystem,” said James King, a restoration technician at Redstart, a natural resource management company based in Corinth.
For years, environmental experts like King have been sawing down trees to place across river beds. Over time, these efforts have tripled the number of brook trout in streams, according to a study by Jud Kratzer, a fisheries biologist at the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This method, called Strategic Wood Placement, is being done all across Vermont by placing wood in streams within forested areas away from infrastructure. So far, the state has completed this work across 68 miles of Vermont streams, Kratzer said. Not only does it benefit fish in a multitude of ways, but it also benefits people and the environment.
“Trees on the stream are so important for trout that we say, ‘Fish grow on trees,’” said Kratzer as he explained the important role trees in waterways play in hiding fish from predators, providing a safe place during flood events, and creating an area for fish to spawn.
“We have water birds that are fishing off the sides (of trees) or mink that are crawling over it and under. We are trying to build the fish population, yes, but everything’s got to eat,” said Erin Rodgers, a project manager who works on strategic wood additions at Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit organization based on conserving waterways for trout and other aquatic species. “It’s great for the whole ecosystem.”
Leaves and other particles collect along the base of planted trees, providing food for insects that are then eaten by fish and other predators, Kratzer said.
“It’s creating benefits for creatures at the lower trophic levels, which then benefits all the species in the waterways and the forest beyond that,” King said.
The wood also allows sediment to collect in streams, slowing down their flow to lakes and rivers, where increased sediment can cause algae blooms, Kratzer said. It also reduces the level of inorganic materials in larger waterways like nitrogen and phosphorus, King said.
“We already have too many sediments in Vermont’s larger lakes and rivers,” Kratzer said.
Much of the work being done to add wood to streams is being done in forests away from towns and infrastructure. The tree additions help during flooding by slowing down the water, allowing it to collect in the surrounding rather than destroying infrastructure on the outskirts of rivers and lakes, Kratzer said.
Kratzer’s team has worked on wood additions this year at Willoughby State Forest, and Five Mile and Six Mile brooks in Norton.
“We are always looking for opportunities on the stream where we can feasibly drop wood,” King said.
These tree placements are named “strategic” thanks to the calculated effort that goes into the job. Teams will cut the first tree they place, measuring it to fit precisely in the stream bed. They’ll place another tree 300 feet upstream, Kratzer said.
“We want them to be spread out so that the benefits are spread rather than the wood all moving and ending up in one big log jam,” Krazter said.