On December 14, 2019 Chris Myhrum submitted comments on behalf of the DRWTU Chapter as an intervener in the FERC relicensing process of the Fife Brook Dam and Bear Swamp Hydroelectric project. You can read the document here.

If you are following DRWTU here or through local media, you know we are embarking on a two year-long study of thirty radio-tagged brown trout in the Deerfield River. This collaboration already involves scores of volunteers from TU and partner conservation agencies, biologists from the USGS Silvio Conte Anadromous Fish Lab, and MA Fish and … Continue reading Catch a Radio Tagged Brown? →

The North River is one of the major tributaries of the Deerfield River; it is designated as a ‘Major River’ by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. At about 12:30 PM on September 1, I observed hundreds of dead fish at my house near the confluence with the Deerfield. I traced the multiple sizes and species of … Continue reading Devastating Fish Kill on the North River (Updated 9/4/19) →

We are very excited to be able to share the final report of the Second Deerfield River Trout Spawning Study. The pdf is available to read or download here. The report authored by Erin Rodgers, PhD, with contributions from Mike Hayden, was submitted to TU National on July 13 as part of the final Embrace … Continue reading Spawning Study Final Report →

TU National supports new legislation coming out of congress called Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) and you can too. Read all about it here. Then, contact your congressional representative and urge them to vote for this bill.

Read all about it here: https://www.mass.gov/news/brown-trout-study-continues-on-the-upper-deerfield-river Wild Brown Trout Want YOU to report your catch – any trout in the section of the Deerfield below Fife Brook Dam and above Shelburne Falls (#4 Dam). Click —>Here<—- to report

Update April 25: MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and US Fisheries and Wildlife Service both cited the DRWTU Trout Spawning Studies in comments filed with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) (See links below). MASS Fish & Wildlife Comments US Fisheries & Wildlife Service Comments DRWTU Attorney Chris Myhrum has filed two official documents … Continue reading DRWTU,MA F&W, and USFW File Comments in Relicensing Process →

Board Members Chris Jackson, Sheila and Eric Halloran attended a meeting at the invitation of the Connecticut Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Wilmington VT last month. The meeting previewed a more formal presentation of the plan for the US Forestry Service conservation project on a section of the Green Mountain National Forest that includes … Continue reading Somerset Integrated Resource Project →

As co-chair of the DRWTU Conservation Committee, Kevin Parsons has submitted a letter along with the interim report from the second year’s spawning study on the Deerfield River to the Federal Energy Resource Commission. Click Here to see Parsons Letter.

DRWTU  is recommending that during the hot summer months of July and August, Mass Fish and Wildlife adopt no fishing zones within 100 feet from the mouths of posted cold-water tributaries: Pelham Brook, Cold River, Chickley River, Avery Brook, Clesson Brook, etc. In many summer months, the mouths of cold-water tributaries offer trout sanctuary from … Continue reading Proposals To Mass Fish & Wildlife →