Did I do the right or wrong thing Re: conservation

[Chaz]

Let DEP decide, and this also supports why ALL streams that aren't listed on the wild trout streams list should be reported to PFBC so they can survey the streams. If no one knows there are trout there it can't get the proper protection.

 

[DavidFin]

DEP told me to go screw and that I'm lucky they left stumps behind.... When I asked them if crews are supposed to post permits around the work site, the person literally shuffled papers and said, "Uh.." repeatedly until I said forget it.

This is not over as far as I'm concerned.

 

[troutbert]

DavidFin wrote:
DEP told me to go screw and that I'm lucky they left stumps behind.... When I asked them if crews are supposed to post permits around the work site, the person literally shuffled papers and said, "Uh.." repeatedly until I said forget it.

This is not over as far as I'm concerned.

Did they actually say "go screw?" If not, what did they say?

There is no US or PA law prohibiting cutting trees down along streams. It's harmful to streams. But there is no law against it.

There are laws against channel alteration. And there are laws regarding erosion and sedimentation, i.e. if there was a lot of soil disturbance and a lot of mud washed into the creek, and they did not take the right measures (silt fencing etc.) to try to prevent that.

If those were violated, then there is a legal issue.

But if nothing was done other than cutting of vegetation, then no law was violated.

It might be worth contacting the County Conservation district. They might be willing to talk to the developers and convince them into doing the right thing, i.e. creating a riparian buffer, planting trees and shrubs etc.

That may sound like a long shot, but I know of a case where that worked. Many people are not so much deliberately callous about streams, but just completely unaware about stream care.

 

[DavidFin]

This is in NJ, actually.

My problem resides in the fact that it's a recognized wild trout stretch (only a 1/4-1/2 mile stretch of this stream carries the designation) and all the destruction occurred in that stretch, with two very important holding spots torn apart. One of them seriously looks like someone pushed a giant lawnmower over it.

So, why bother with the designation if a government municipality is going to destroy it? It really adds insult to injury.

 

[troutbert]

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen."

Aldo Leopold

 

[BrookieChaser]

troutbert wrote:
“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen."

Aldo Leopold

That is a very good quote. It's so very true.