Farnsworth Branch project wraps up two-year planning effort
By DEAN WELLS dwells@timesobserver.comArticle Photos
The Farnsworth Branch just got a fish-friendly facelift.
Workers put the finishing touches on installing new fish habitat and stabilizing banks in a 900-foot section of the stream, which runs through the Farnsworth Fish Hatchery property.
The project, coordinated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and U.S. Forest Service, underwent a two-year planning period. Work began on Monday and wrapped up on Thursday afternoon.
Other parties involved include the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which helped coordinate workers and volunteers; the Warren County Conservation District, which provided funds; and the Youth Conservation Corps, which provide volunteer workers.
"We planned this two years ago," Mark Sausser, Northwest/Southwest Stream Habitat Manager for the Fish and Boat Commission, said. "It was kind of a long planning process to get everything together."
The Fish and Boat Commission acted as the project's architect, partnering with the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the Farnworth Fish Hatchery property.
"We've formed a good partnership with the Fish and Boat Commission," said Nathan Welker, of the U.S. Forest Service. "That helps us out, because the Forest Service has more projects than we know what to do with."
Sausser said the project included installation of 27 "devices" used to help provide cover for fish while stablizing the stream.
"Stabilizing is our secondary goal," Sausser said. "Our primary concern was to improve the fish habitat."
Sausser said that the Farnsworth Branch plays hosts to various fishing derbies in the vicinity of the hatchery.
In addition to installing stream "devices," workers removed a concrete dam downstream of the hatchery. Sausser said that the devices will help narrow the stream and create natural pools. "The fish will stick around a little bit longer now after they are stocked," he said.
According to Welker, the Farnsworth was channelized in the 1940s, meaning it was artificially straightened, stripping it of its natural meandering path.
"A lot of our streams have suffered through the years from being straightened or cleaned out," Welker said. "It decreases the natural fish habitat."
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07-30-10 3:59 PM
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It would have been nice if the continued section of the article would have had the correct heading. Anyway, the Farnsworth Hatchery construction will be the subject of a photo display in Sheffield at the Valley Voice storefront later this month, courtesy of the V. V. and Dr. Michael Schultz, noted CCC historian and videographer. Schultz will be in the area for the CCC reunion picnic.
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reader
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07-30-10 11:17 AM
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amazing. fish in farnsworth get better treatment for their homes than taxpayers along jackson run and other streams. wonder how much money in taxes the fish pay.
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