Protection vs. Conservation

[Stone_Fly]

I'll take a stab at this topic, and thanks for bringing it up Mike.
Protection as it relates to wild trout populations in PA should be assumed to mean low creel limits. Conservation is a range of management tools that includes protection as one of its components, i.e., lower creel limits. As it applies to the message board many of the visitors write of protections as if it was the only management tool available when indeed it isn’t. However protection, i.e., lower limits and higher size limits on wild trout are perceived to be essential to the overall conservation of wild populations. On the whole, in these post conservation as a general term is often overlooked, but in order for any conservation plan to work it must 1, have achievable goals, 2, include habitat improvement elements and 3, not be so expensive as to be impossible to fund.
Many stream sections on wild trout stream have a primary limiting factor of poor habitat, long shallow reaches, low pool to riffle ratios, no woody debris, and channelization or other human disturbances. The picture as a whole can be rather bleak when no action is taken to address habitat issues aren’t address. There are hundreds of wild trout streams in PA that are impacted by human distrurbances.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for all of the answers. It was clear that a number of them were backed by some real thinking. No, FarmerDave, you did not need to be an English major...I understood and appreciated your comments just as they were. For those who discarded the soap boxes and/or the tomatoes for a moment, thanks.

 

[Stone_Fly]

There is one other point I'd like to make and that is, all of the coservation work that gets completed is completed under various conservation plans by many diverse organizations not just TU. These good folks do a wonderful job in getting the public awareness and volunteers together that are needed to accomplish what sometimes seems impossible. It is the charge of state agencies to "protect" the resources through the laws that protect our environment, that may or may not include no harvest or low creel limits in the case of fishing in general, but on trout stream particularly. Only the state and Feds have the law behind them to enforce the clean water act and the clean air act. The tree huggers can only point a finger at violators.