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Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Preserving natural stream conditions helps bring back trout

Wild brown, brook, and rainbow trout are thriving in a section of New Jersey's Flanders Brook, thanks in part to a couple of simple strategies. When New Jersey Department of Transportation crews relocated a section of the stream to improve safety on Route 206, they removed as few trees as possible, allowing the stream bank to remain shaded and the water to stay cool (an important factor for coldwater species like trout). They also "recycled" boulders from the old stream section, placing them where they would form step pools and riffle areas. And they created a natural stream bottom just by allowing small streambed materials upstream of the project to settle out downstream after storms.
 
--Apr 25, 2003

Photo by Paula Scelsi, New Jersey Department of Transportation

Strategically placed native rock in Flanders Brook