Fish & Boat Commission Receives Grants For Habitat Projects At Raystown, Somerset Lakes

On August 5, the Fish and Boat Commission announced two lake habitat enhancement projects have been awarded funding through the National Fish Habitat Partnership--

-- Raystown Lake, Huntingdon County - $75,000; Raystown Lake Shoreline Habitat Barge Project

-- Somerset Lake, Somerset County - $40,000; Somerset Lake Fish Habitat Improvement

At Raystown Lake, the NFHP grant will fund $75,000 of a $611,629 project that will stabilize actively eroding shorelines.  The rock structures will create better fish habitat and improve water quality.  

Additional funding for this project was provided by the Friends of Raystown Lake and through a consent order between the Department of Environmental Protection and Sunoco Pipeline related to violations during construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline under Raystown Lake. [Read more here.]

At Somerset Lake, the NFHP grant will fund $40,000 of a $119,876 project that will provide additional wood and rock type fish habitat for the future fishery at Somerset Lake.  Additional funding for this project was provided by the Somerset Lake Action Committee.

The lake was drained during a dam rehabilitation project but is now being refilled.   This habitat project will complete phase two of ongoing large-scale habitat improvement efforts that began while the lake was fully drawn down.  

"The best way to have a significant impact on the water through enhanced fish habitat is to increase the scale of the projects," said Ben Page, PFBC Lake Habitat Section Manager.  "These funds allow us to think big when planning and completing these projects and create the most substantial fish habitat that leads to great fisheries for anglers."

Through the NFHP, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners award federal funding that is leveraged with additional partnership project funding from other sources to boost locally led habitat enhancement projects.  

These projects can include streambank restoration, removal of barriers to fish passage, erosion reduction on agricultural lands, and monitoring and assessment efforts to identify conservation needs for fish and their habitats.  

Anticipated benefits of these projects include more robust fish populations, better fishing, and healthier waterways.  

This year, funding through the NFHP program resulted in a 9-to-1 leveraged funding match.

More information on PFBC's habitat program, visit the Habitat Improvement webpage.

[Posted: August 8, 2022]  PA Environment Digest