World Water Day: Forest Service partnerships for stream health in the ANF
KANE—THE water that flows through the Allegheny National Forest affects Pennsylvania residents across its vast western region.
In recognition of World Water Day— March 22, 2024—The USDA Forest Service announced their recent work felling large trees into waterways to improve the health of streams in the Allegheny National Forest.
The additions will create eddies and backchannels and change the behavior of the flow. Eventually mud, leaves, and sticks will pile against the trees and create a partial barrier on the streams. The blockages will slow the water down and serve as a shock absorber during high and low flows. Also, water flowing through the blockages gets aerated, enhancing the ecosystem that provides habitats for creatures like native brook trout.
The “Large Woody Debris Project” is a partnership with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Trout Unlimited. The projects were paid for with investments from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Five miles of large wood additions were
added to Bear Creek in Elk County over the last two months. More projects are planned for this year on the Farnsworth Branch of Tionesta Creek, Little Hickory Run, Lamentation Run, and Irwin Run.
The goal of the projects is to return the streams to a more natural state like the one that existed before the late 1700’s. In those times, logging operations worked to clear streams of rocks and trees like the ones being downed for the projects.
Back then, the intention was to allow easy transportation of logs to market. What was good for business was bad for stream health and led to an unhealthy habitat for aquatic organisms. The streams couldn’t handle flood situations well either.
The Forest Service service is mandated to protect, manage, and develop the forest resources of the state. These projects are cutting a low amount of trees that are inaccessible for commercial timbering, and will contribute
to overall forest health by enhancing the streams.
As part of the announcement, the Forest Service invited the public to explore where their water comes from. Their tool, Forests to Faucets 2.0 is an interactive map and data sets that shows forests are a critical link in providing dependable water supplies across the country. The map can be accessed by visiting https://www.fs.usda. gov/ecosystemservices/ Fs_efforts/.