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  At a ceremony held April 29th in Uniontown, the Fayette County Commissioners and the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority awarded Chestnut Ridge Chapter, Trout Unlimited a $10,000 grant to operate its cooperative trout nursery in the tailrace of the Youghiogheny Reservoir. The grant will enable the chapter to operate the nursery through 2027. 

The grant was awarded through Fayette County's Local Share Account (LSA) grant program, established in the county in 2015 after state legislation directed a portion of gambling revenue to counties with a casino within their borders. That reserved money is redistributed to worthy projects in the county at the commissioners' discretion, under auspices of the state Dept. of Community and Economic Development. 

Chesnut Ridge Chapter's nursery volunteers raise 6,000 to 8,000 trout annually in the innovative nursery submerged in the reservoir outflow basin. A portion of these trout support youth fishing events throughout Fayette County. Other large trout released directly into the Youghiogheny River are making the "Yough" a nationally known destination for trophy trout fishing in a near-wilderness setting, an outdoor experience that is rare in the eastern United States.  

"We are extremely grateful to the county commissioners and the Redevelopment Authority (which administers the grant program) for this support," said CRTU president Ben Moyer. "Along with stream restoration projects, the trout nursery is one of our more expensive operations. Coupled with money we raise at our annual banquet, this funding will allow us to continue providing quality fishing experiences for county children, and to boost Fayette County's image as a great place to enjoy the outdoors, both for residents and visitors from around the country and the world." 

Caption:

The Fayette County Commissioners award Chestnut Ridge Chapter, Trout Unlimited a $10,000 grant from the county's LSA account to operate its trout nursery in the Youghiogheny Reservoir tailrace through 2027. Participating (from left) are Dave Lohr, Fayette County Commissioner; Andrew French, executive director, Fayette County Redevelopment Authority; Ben Moyer, president, Chestnut Ridge Chapter, Trout Unlimited; Vince Vicities, Fayette County Commissioner vice-chairman; and Scott Dunn, Fayette County Commissioner chairman. 

Anglers on two local trout streams had a better experience when the season opened on Saturday, April 5, whether they caught a fish or not. They could fish free of unsightly litter. On March 29, one week before the trout opener, the Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited (CRTU) conducted litter cleanups on Dunbar Creek in Fayette County and Pike Run in Washington County. Except for a cancelled cleanup due to the Covid pandemic in 2020, it was the local chapter’s 30th consecutive pre-season trash pickup at Dunbar Creek. It was the second annual cleanup for the group on Pike Run. “What a great project on Pike Run. Thanks so much to CRTU for the great work it does in the region,” said Chase McClain, marketing director for the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Promotion Agency. CRTU volunteers collected 19 bags of trash, a dozen tires, a mattress, and various appliance parts along Pike Run Drive and Pike Run, a tributary to the Monongahela that enters the river at California. The effort was a registered event in the statewide Keep PA Beautiful campaign. PennDot will dispose of the trash collected from the roadside and streambank, and Borough of California employees will recycle appliance parts. Pike Run in that section is a special regulation Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only trout stream, heavily stocked with trout by the PA Fish and Boat Commission for anglers’ enjoyment. At Dunbar Creek, another team of CRTU volunteers collected 22 bags of trash and one tire. CRTU participates in PennDot’s Adopt a Highway program along the Dunbar-Ohiopyle Road and cleans the Betty Knox access road to State Game Land 51 popular with Dunbar Creek trout anglers. “A lot of our members have always picked up trash along Dunbar Creek while fishing,” said Eugene Gordon who chairs the Dunbar cleanup effort for CRTU. “But we started it as a formal annual project in 1996.” While Gordon says it’s regrettable that any litter is left behind along such a beautiful resource as Dunbar Creek, he believes the litter situation along the stream has gradually improved over the years. “The first time we did it we took out three triaxles of trash and over 100 tires. I don’t think you could imagine much of anything that we haven’t found along the stream—appliances, furniture, toilets, car parts and even an entire car once by the pipeline. There are no surprises among those members who have participated.” But in recent years, the volume of trash has gradually diminished. What once took a day-and-a-half to clean up now can be accomplished by CRTU volunteers in two or three hours of work. “We like to hope that people are beginning to wake up to what we have here and are respecting it a little more,” Gordon reflected. Several organizations have partnered with CRTU on the cleanup over the years including the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Dunbar Sportsmen’s Club, PA Cleanways, PennDot, and Dunbar Township. Gordon observed that the chapter has worked to improve the environment and the trout-fishing experience on Dunbar Creek in diverse ways. “Our chapter is proud that we have worked to improve both the water quality of Dunbar Creek through our Glade Run project, which neutralizes acid mine drainage in the headwaters, and the scenic character of the stream corridor by cleaning up litter,” Gordon said. “We believe this makes for a better experience for those who come here to fish and enjoy the outdoors in Fayette County.” The trout season began on April 5 and will continue through Sept. 1. On most stocked trout streams anglers may keep 5 trout per day, minimum size 7 inches. But regulations vary by stream, including portions of Dunbar Creek and Pike Run. The “Betty Knox” section of Dunbar Creek is regulated for fly-fishing only, and all trout caught must be released. Anglers should check regulations on the Fish and Boat Commission website (www.pa.gov/agenciesfishandboat) to confirm the rules where and when they choose to fish.