Virginia
Overview
In Mossy Creek, trophy brown trout fin beneath undercut banks, waiting for prey. Not far away, native brook trout hold lazily in the North River as it tumbles through rugged national forest lands. In the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, anglers ply cool mountain streams under the watchful eyes of wild ponies. Virginia’s wild trout resources are rich and diverse, a richness reflected in the state’s Priority Waters. These include the Blue Ridge Mountains and their more than 500 miles of Appalachian brook trout waters, as well as the headwaters of the majestic Shenandoah and James River watersheds. We are working across this landscape to strengthen these wild trout strongholds, improving habitat for trout while also enhancing water quality flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
Fish We're Protecting
Threats & Opportunities
Though they are located at high elevations and largely in maturing forests, Virginia’s trout streams nonetheless face threats from rising temperatures. Improving habitat and connectivity will make these streams and their fisheries more resilient in the face of a warming climate.
What We're Accomplishing
Expanding brook trout habitat by reconnecting headwater streams.
Across Virginia’s Priority Waters, we have been expanding brook trout habitat by addressing barriers such as perched culverts and small dams. In the James River headwaters in Jefferson National Forest, removing a remnant dam on Wilson Creek opened 10 miles of native brook trout habitat. Replacing a failed and undersized culvert on Furnace Branch opened several miles of stream habitat and improved access to a newly acquired 5,000-acre forest tract.
Improving and protecting stream habitat to benefit brook trout populations.
Across Virginia’s Priority Waters, our stream restoration and protection efforts are having an immediate impact on stream health. In the upper reaches of the Jackson River, habitat restoration along a section of stream running through a 700-acre farm has not only benefited resident brook trout but also improved water quality far downstream. Our teams have installed more than 80,000 feet of livestock exclusion fencing throughout the watershed, protecting 14 stream miles and creating 80 acres of new riparian buffers.
Leveraging diverse funding sources to provide technical and financial assistance to conservation-focused landowners.
We secured a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) agreement that established approximately $2 million in financial assistance for farmers in the Upper James and Shenandoah Priority Waters. These funds support landowners working with us to implement conservation practices that improve instream and riparian habitat. We leveraged these federal dollars with $750,000 in philanthropic gifts and state agricultural cost-share funds to help landowners achieve their conservation goals.
How You Can Help
Find your local chapter
Get connected and make a difference for priority waters in your community.
Find your chapterLearn how you can get involved with TU’s work recovering Virginia Priority Waters.
VolunteerStay up to date about what we’re doing in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Virginia Conservation Team
Sammy Vest
samuel.vest@tu.org
Upper James River Project Coordinator
samuel.vest@tu.org
Upper James River Project Coordinator
Priority Waters
-
Blue Ridge
With robust populations of native brook trout, along with some wild rainbow and brown trout, the coldwater streams of the Blue Ridge Mountains, including those within Shenandoah National Park, are among the most popular wild trout fisheries in the East. We’re improving habitat and connectivity in these streams to help these fisheries remain viable and robust in the face of a warming global climate.
-
Upper James / Shenandoah
These watersheds offer the opportunity to work on both small mountain streams on public lands and on valley floor creeks — many of which benefit from groundwater inputs. In what we call the North River Complex, for example, we worked with the Forest Service to improve habitat on the North River on national forest land while also working on spring-fed North River tributaries like Beaver Creek and Mossy Creek. Improving connectivity within these systems is helping to re-establish the fluvial life history of brook trout in the region, allowing those fish to move within the systems to best utilize habitat for spawning, foraging, and finding thermal refugia during warmer months.
-
Grayson Highlands
Bordering North Carolina, the Grayson Highlands are unique to Virginia in that some of the streams in the region contain a southern strain of brook trout. This is an exciting new opportunity in Virginia, with the abundance of quality coldwater streams within the Priority Waters area providing ample opportunities to work both on private and public lands.
