Except for epic floods and suchlike calamities, harm to our creeks is caused by us. We cut forests flat. We overuse pesticides, fertilizer, and road salt.
We ride ATVs through streams, fill in wetlands, build too close to the water, dam waterways, don’t give a thought to our septic systems, and generally do what we darn please in and around creeks.
Fortunately for all of us, many lovers of the natural world (like you?) strive to keep our waters wild, cold, and pure.
Few are as dedicated as people like Eric Baird, Todd Burns, and all the volunteers of Brodhead Trout Unlimited.
For decades, the group has been working to protect and improve stream quality.
Their first stream restoration project on the McMichaels creek was at Hickory Valley Park.
Over time, people had reshaped the creek, confining it to an unnaturally straight channel. The banks collapsed in places, dumping into the water and widening it out.
The plan was to use logs, boulders, and other natural materials to recreate natural flow patterns.
After raising money for equipment and supplies, and with permits in hand, the work began.
The team built triangular deflectors of huge boulders jutting out from the banks to narrow and deepen the channel.
Deflectors make for faster moving water and create a variety of aquatic habitats.
The volunteers also constructed stone cross vanes-- which aerate the water and create pools-- and placed boulders randomly in the stream channel to provide hiding places for fish and other creek critters.
Since that first project, Brodhead TU has worked on habitat and water quality at the Pomeroy Preserve, owned by Pocono Heritage Land Trust, and at Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge, among many others.
At Cherry Valley, the work also included removing invasive plants like multiflora rose and barberry and planting 800 stems of native plants in their stead.
Lately, the group has been working with an Eagle Scout candidate on improving Tank Creek, a small headwaters creek of the Paradise.
Does all this hard work pay off?
Here’s one way to tell.
A while back, improvements were proposed on the Pocono Creek. Before work started, volunteers electro-fished a section of the creek-- and found only six trout, just three inches long.
Two years later, after Brodhead TU got the permits, did the fundraising, and moved tons of rock, that same section was home to 42 trout between 7 and 15 inches long.
Wild, cold, pure-- water that’s good for fish is good for all of life, including us.
Thanks, Brodhead TU!
Brodhead TU
Many Brodhead TU members love trout fishing, but it’s not just a fishing club.
In addition to stream work described here, members lead learn-to-fish clinics, teach fly-tying, install take-one-leave-one “fly-brairies” at local creeks and support healthy waterways throughout the Brodhead watershed.
To become a member, or learn how you can help, visit the Brodhead Trout Unlimited website.
[Visit the PA Council Trout Unlimited website to find your local TU Chapter.]
Brodhead Watershed Association protects water quality and quantity throughout our area. Get involved! Become a member!
Related Article This Week:
-- Not All Headwaters Rise In the Natural Way: Forest Hills Run Is Born From Parking Lots And Detention Basins - By Carol Hillestad for Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County [PaEN]
[Posted: June 1, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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