BACK the BROOKIE

Charlie Breithaupt, Council Chairman

The Third quarter update for Back the Brookie in Georgia is available by clicking on the following links (one is PDF, One is MS Word) 3Q2008 Update (MS Word), 3Q2008 Update (PDF)

KEVIN MCGRATH, GEORGIA COUNCIL BACK THE BROOKIE CHAIRMAN

E-Mail btb@georgiatu.org TU National Site http://www.brookie.org/

For newsletters and other information, scroll down for the links.

BACK the BROOKIE, GE0RGIA COUNCIL OF TROUT UNLIMITED

Southern Appalachian Brook Trout are one of nature’s most exquisite forms of art. Their brilliant colors and intricate patterns are a miracle. In the clean, cold, crystal clear streams these fish call home they are living jewels sprinkled throughout the high mountain waters of Southern Appalachia.

The presence of brook trout in our Southern mountains is a miracle as well. They were left behind when the glaciers retreated and have been an integral part of the landscape and culture since. Native Americans and settlers alike prized the brook trout for its tasty flesh and plentiful numbers.

Much has changed over the past century however. Extensive logging decimated brook trout waters through erosion and sedimentation of habitat. Nonnative trout were stocked to replace lost populations and brook trout, unable to compete, were soon driven into higher elevation streams where they remain today. These streams are particularly vulnerable to a variety of threats: acidification from fossil fuel emissions; habitat damage from land use patterns, and continued competition from non-native species.

Brook trout aren’t the only victims of fallout from emissions and muddy water. Acidification from emissions damages plants, strips soils of critical nutrients and contributes to the deterioration of buildings. Particulate matter from polluted air causes lung irritation, particularly in children and the elderly, contributing to asthma attacks and aggravating other lung conditions. It also reduces visibility and effects our economy inhibiting tourism and related businesses.

Brook trout are considered an aquatic “canary in a coal mine” or indicator species. Their presence can indicate the overall health of our watersheds. Protecting these fish almost always brings greater health, recreational and economic benefits to entire ecosystems.

Back the Brookie works through advocacy, conservation, education and development to protect, preserve and restore wild brook trout in their native range.

When we protect brook trout, we also protect our mountains and their watersheds—the source of clean water on which all of us downstream rely. Water laden with sedimentation flows downstream carrying this problem to communities between the mountains and the sea.

Won’t you join us?

Brook Trout in Georgia

Georgia represents the southern limit of the natural range of brook trout in the eastern United States.

In Georgia, almost one hundred forty miles of streams support wild brook trout populations.

Twenty four populations of Southern Appalachian Brook Trout, the state’s native coldwater fish, inhabit thirty six miles of these streams. All of these populations are found on public lands in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

They can be found across northern Georgia from the Cohutta Wilderness near Alabama in the west to the Warwoman Wildlife Management Area near South Carolina in the east.

“Southern Appalachian Brook Trout represent significant components of the region’s ecological integrity, biological diversity, and sportfishing legacy. “ (American Fisheries Society)

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources does not stock brook trout. As such, brook trout are wild fish on public lands in Georgia.—a valuable public resource.

The Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited is committed to working with the United States Forest Service (USFS) and Georgia Department of Resources (DNR) to help protect, preserve and restore brook trout in the Georgia..

3rd Quarter 2008 Update- in PDF 3Q2008 Update , in MS Word 3Q2008 Update

2007 Progress, Recaps and Updates forseveral key initiatives undertaken by GA TU, USFS and GA DNR in 2007. BTB2007Georgia

Georgia Brook Trout Conservation Strategies: www.easternbrooktrout.org/docs/EBTJV_Georgia_CS.pdf