Another step has been taken to help fish movement in Bald Eagle Creek.
A Clinton County industry recently partnered with two agencies to construct a fish passageway over a long-standing dam near the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek. From the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, fish migration had been limited to just a short section of Bald Eagle Creek. The completed structure opens 14 miles of stream for natural fish movement beyond the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek upstream into its tributaries.
First Quality Tissue, the owner of Bald Eagle Dam in Lock Haven, joined forces with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to build a fish passageway that allows fish to safely move upstream into Bald Eagle Creek. Construction of the $630,000 project began during the summer and ended in the early fall of 2011.
According to PFBC Division of Habitat Management chief Scott Carney, the project had its beginnings about seven years ago when a local now-retired congressman had more than $1 million added as a line item in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s budget. The money was earmarked for creating fish passageways on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
“Initially, they completed a design to refurbish the Hepburn Street Dam in Williamsport so that it could pass fish,” Carney said. “They also used the Fish and Wildlife money to do the design work for the Tidlow Dam on the West Branch in Lock Haven. There was some design-phase money left over, so we then looked at the dam on Bald Eagle Creek. Kleinschmidt, of Strasburg, was contracted by the Fish and Wildlife Service to complete the design. All the while, we hoped that somewhere the money to complete these projects would turn up.”
Bald Eagle Dam was built in 1834 to supply water to part of the Pennsylvania Canal. The canal system was originally used by horse or mule-drawn barges to ferry material throughout the state. At one point, the transportation network extended all the way to Bellefonte. In 1850, railroads started to replace barges, and by 1900, the entire canal system — more than 1,000 miles — was closed to freight and passenger traffic.
Since the late 1800s, however, a portion of the old canal was used to supply water for a Lock Haven paper mill and is still used today by First Quality Tissue. Because the dam is still in use, breaching or dismantling it — a process often carried out to allow fish passage — was not an option in this case.
According to Jim Vaiana, Environmental and Sustain-ability Director for First Quality Tissue, the 9-foot high, 350-foot wide Bald Eagle Dam provides a necessary resource for manufacturing. Each day, his plant withdraws several million gallons of water from the canal, made possible by the dam on Bald Eagle Creek.
“The vast majority of the water is returned to the stream after we clean it,” Vaiana said. “We are required to treat it to the point where it is actually cleaner when it goes back in.”
Carney explained the fishway grant process.
“First Quality entered into a grant agreement with the commission, where they would be reimbursed 100 percent for construction and oversight costs. They will also be responsible for structure maintenance.”
According to Fish and Boat Commission fisheries biologist Ben Lorson, Glenn O. Hawbaker Construction started in July 2011 with the building of a coffer dam so that work could be done out of the water. This was followed by excavation, forming and pouring concrete, building steel gates and finally the adding of wooden baffles, walkways, railings and debris-exclusion devices. The project was finished in late September.
“Initially, this money was really targeted for part of the state’s shad restoration program,” Carney said.
Even without the shad, Carney sees a benefit.
“The utility of the fishway at Bald Eagle Dam is that it is very close to the confluence with the West Branch. Bald Eagle Creek is a very productive stream. A lot of resident fish — in particular, walleye and other fish such as smallmouth bass and suckers — migrate up Bald Eagle Creek every year to spawn or to feed. So this fishway is really facilitating the movement of resident fish until we get the shad up there.”
Cooperation was a key to the success of this project.
“Jim Vaiana and First Quality Tissue were excellent partners from day one,” Carney said. “They supported and embraced the project. It speaks volumes about their environmental ethic and their willingness to partner with state and federal agencies to do the right thing for our environment.”
Vaiana shared similar thoughts.
“It was terrific,” he said. “We were all out to achieve the same goal. It was a pleasure working with both agencies. It was not an adversarial relationship everyone was just real cooperative. I think that it is a good thing for our area, and not just for fishermen.
“The project also includes a portage for paddlers using canoes and kayaks. The portage walkway is complete, and the signs informing waterway users exactly how to portage the dam will soon be in place.”
According to Carney, plans are also complete to install a fish ladder at the Lock Haven Dam to provide fish passage upstream of Lock Haven on the West Branch. In addition, there are plans to upgrade the fishway at the Hepburn Street Dam in Williamsport and to construct a bypass fishway at the inflatable Adam T. Bower Memorial Dam at Sunbury, which is expected to be installed this summer.
Once finished, these projects would open the West Branch north of Lock Haven and Bald Eagle Creek from Sayers Dam in Centre County all the way to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. This should aid in the restoration of American Shad and other migratory fish to their native waters.
Mark Nale, who lives in the Bald Eagle Valley, is a member of the PA Outdoor Writers Association. He can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com.
