Wild Appalachia: Red Creek liming hopes to help brook trout
TUCKER COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Dolly Sods Region along the Grant and Tucker County border is known for its windswept vistas and a landscape that looks more like Canada instead.
Years ago, it was also known for having a healthy brook trout population - but that's not the case anymore.
Red Creek, the main waterway on this highest plateau east of the Mississippi River, is now mainly lifeless.
Up at 4,000 feet, the temperature isn't a problem for brook trout, but the acidic nature of the water is. That's why tons of limestone sand are being dumped into the stream.
"The lime has what we call buffering capacity," West Virginia DNR Environmental Resource Specialist Eric Gladwell said. "It's alkaline, and it takes the acidity down to hopefully roughly six, six and a half. That's ideal. We just have to fix the water to get the fish to move up."
The bog is naturally acidic, but acid rain from industry sources has been the main issue.
Over time, the lime will gradually dissolve and move downstream. Positive results have already been seen just three years after the project started.
"This year, we actually got a bunch of creek chubs," Gladwell said. "So, we're pretty excited about that. No brook trout yet, but creek chubs, that's a start. There are already stone flies and stuff in there. We get the pH up, we'll start seeing mayflies and the whole nine yards."
Gladwell also says the work hasn't been easy - and the way in is rough and bumpy.
"It's a very hard task," Gladwell said. "We stage lime about two and a half miles back down the road, and then we use this Terramac crawler that hauls roughly 10 tons at a time, and we take it up an extremely difficult road. It takes me roughly two hours to get up and back each load.
"So, I mean, three loads a day - you're pretty maxed out."
The need for this sand will likely last forever, but the payoff should be worth it.
"I think West Virginia has always valued the brook trout, not more than other fish," Gladwell said. "But, I mean, it's our gem. It's got to be the most beautiful fish, at least game fish. This could potentially hold some trophy brook trout."
