The PlanResponding to the drastic decline in brown trout, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (VFWD) closed the entire main stem Batten Kill to harvest starting in the 2000 fishing season. No gear regulations were put in place, and anglers could still use bait. Because most bait fishermen want to keep their catch, the entire river became no-kill as bait anglers moved to the Batten Kill's tributaries and its headwaters, which remained under general regulations.
In 2000, the VFWD helped establish the interagency Batten Kill Study Team represented by individuals from the VFWD, USDA Forest Service, Green Mountain National Forest, and Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Volunteer help also came from Trout Unlimited, local anglers, high-school biology classes, and the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance.
From 2000 to 2006 the Batten Kill Study Team mapped trout spawning redds and investigated tributaries and possible barriers to spawning fish. It surveyed habitat and monitored water temperatures, quantified overhead cover, and studied the effects of sediment load on spawning gravel. It also compared trout populations on the Batten Kill to four other Vermont wild brown trout streams, and examined the stomach contents of mergansers. The river's main stem and its tributaries were tested for disease-causing organisms. Some large trout were radio-tagged to determine their seasonal movements.
In 2006 the Batten Kill Study Team came up with the following conclusions regarding the decline of the Batten Kill's brown trout:
Brown trout recruitment appears to be bottlenecked at the 6- to 10-inch class. After the first few years, young-of-the-year populations increased exponentially, and the catch-and-release regulations allowed some of the adults to progress through the midsize bottleneck. As a result, it's now more common to catch a 20-inch brown trout than a 12-inch one.
Overhead cover in the main stem Batten Kill is significantly less than adequate. Studies show that between 15 and 35 percent of the wetted streambed should have some sort of overhead cover, whether it is deep water, logjams, large rocks, or bank cover. The estimated available cover from the Batten Kill habitat survey was 7.2 percent. This shows in the population dynamics, as young-of-the-year trout live in the shallows with little cover and the large fish use deep pools.
The Batten Kill has numerous deep pools and lots of shallow areas; what's lacking is the cover needed by trout that are larger but still feeding primarily on invertebrate drift rather than sculpins or crayfish at night. Some of the overhead cover has been removed by boaters trying to make the river safer and easier to float. Other riparian areas have been damaged by landowners wanting a parklike riverbank instead of the more natural, brushy banks.
Mergansers appear to prefer trout over other fishes in the Batten Kill. They are not the cause of the decline but are taking advantage of the habitat deficiency.
There is evidence of extensive habitat degradation as a result of past channelization and riverbank berming activity. Water quality and temperatures, fish health, and spawning success do not appear to be linked to the brown trout decline.
VFWD then came up with the Batten Kill Trout Management Plan--adopted January 2007--with the overall goal to: "Sustain wild brook and brown trout population abundance and fish size-class structure in the Batten Kill and its tributaries to support quality fishing within the ecological carrying capacity of the system."
The plan specifies five actions:
1) Develop a partnership among federal and state agencies, private landowners, and private conservation organizations to protect, restore, or enhance in-stream trout cover and protect or reestablish forested riparian buffers.
2) Develop an outreach program to provide local towns and landowners with best management practices for the stream and riparian habitat.
3) Continue to manage wild brown and brook trout populations on the Batten Kill with the current no-harvest regulations until at least 2012.
4) Manage the Batten Kill main stem as a wild trout fishery without stocking.
5) Continue to monitor the trout populations by electrofishing and creel surveys.
The second and fifth items would have been done anyway on this watershed. Some anglers oppose keeping the no-kill regulations, but most realize that something has to be done to maintain the trout population until it can recover, and all anglers are delighted by the large trout they are catching.
I often fish the Batten Kill early in the morning and see bait fishermen who target these big browns (and carefully release them, or as carefully as you can with a fish caught on bait). It's not the best situation, but no one can claim it's the elitist fly fishermen who are trying to keep the river for themselves.
The first item on the list is the most exciting and has the potential to bring the river back to the old days. It's also the least controversial. With the cooperation of William Lesko and other private landowners, nearly half a mile of river is now being restored to a more natural habitat by adding large root wads and rocks.
Phase 1 of the Twin Rivers Project was completed in September 2006 and is estimated to have changed the in-stream cover in one long pool from 1.5 percent of the total wetted area to 22.8 percent. It is a major project, requiring support and cooperation from the landowners, the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, Bennington County Conservation District, USDA Forest Service's Green Mountain National Forest, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, River Network, Trout Unlimited, The Trout and Salmon Foundation, VFWD, and Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's River Management Program.
Vermont's outgoing independent Senator James Jeffords appropriated $200,000 in federal funds for the work, and the Orvis Company is running a fund-raising effort with a matching program, with a target of raising $90,000.
This small area required countless hours of paid and volunteer help and $90,000, but if successful, it will serve as a springboard for getting more landowners and more organizations involved in similar projects. It will require years of patience and hard work to make a difference throughout the river. There are no shortcuts to repairing the widespread, creeping habitat damage that took at least 30 years to come to a head.
When the plan was originally disseminated as a proposal, the fourth action item actually recommended stocking 1,000 triploid rainbow trout in the Batten Kill to improve interim angling quality while the habitat restoration was ongoing. This proposal was a lightning rod that attracted widespread opposition.
More than 50 people attended a meeting to discuss the proposal and while 28 spoke on the subject, only 5 were in favor of stocking the river.
Orvis president Perk Perkins threatened to withdraw funding from the Batten Kill restoration project, stating: "If we stocked the river, my business would probably do better, but that's not what this is about. I'm very worried that if we stock the trout, it will be a slippery slope. I'm afraid the decision on whether to remove the trout [in the future] will be political, not scientific."
Not only did it seem wrong to stock genetically modified trout into a historic wild-trout stream, there are practical arguments against it. Studies show that hatchery trout compete aggressively with wild trout for habitat. Because the stocking was planned for an area close to the habitat restoration area, it would be impossible to evaluate the success of the restoration. And because the Batten Kill is open to bait fishing, what would have happened to the wild trout when crowds descended on the river in an attempt to catch those hatchery trout?
A few local fishermen portrayed the stocking issue as being a class struggle, and some argued that stocked rainbows would provide angling opportunities for children. I'm not sure what kind of values they teach their kids, but I don't want my kids to expect a government handout when they go fishing. Are we going to tether tame whitetails to trees for those kids during deer season as well?
Luckily the proposal to stock rainbows in the Batten Kill was not adopted into the final management plan, which in its final form pledges to manage the Batten Kill as a wild trout fishery and designates two critical spawning tributaries as no-harvest during October.
If, after digesting all this, you're reluctant to fish the Batten Kill, don't be. At almost any time of year, the possibility of catching a wild brook trout in a medium-sized river still exists. The big browns are still there, and there were reports of more small browns in 2006.
The river is still great, and I am convinced that the Batten Kill is on its way to recovery. A plan is already in place to remove a shallow impoundment on the East Branch, which will improve summer water temperatures and open up some magnificent spawning gravel to fish from the lower river.
In the past five years Trout Unlimited and the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance have planted thousands of trees and bushes in the riparian zone. Hopefully, the Twin Rivers Project will be successful and open up possibilities for woody debris improvement on many more river miles. With strong community support from such groups as Southwestern Vermont Trout Unlimited (tuswv.org), the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, and local river users--plus good science and clean water--the river can mend itself, but it will take time and patience. For more information on the state's Batten Kill Trout Management Plan, go to vtfishandwildlife.com and under "Fisheries Programs," click on "Batten Kill Management Plan."
If you're interested in helping, donations to the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance can be sent to the following address:
BKWA Wild Trout
Department FFM
P.O. Box 798
Manchester, VT 05254
Every dollar contributed will be matched by Orvis and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. For more information on the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, visit the organization's web site at BattenKillAlliance.org.
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