Trout Unlimited Jan 14th


troutunlimited_jan14Representatives from the national organization Trout Unlimited will be providing a presentation to the Oakland Flood Commission on January 14th, 2013 at 7:30pm in the Oakland Senior Center.

The presentation will provide the Flood Commission, and residents, an opportunity to learn more about this national organization with more than 140,000 volunteers organized into about 400 chapters, including New Jersey.

Trout Unlimited is expected to describe their role in river & stream restoration projects, and help focus a discussion on the health and state of the river as it runs through Oakland.

The organization regularly collaborates with other conservation groups, local communities, state and federal partners on projects of varying sizes. They rely on a network of anglers, conservationists, scientists, and lawyers to help coordinate projects and steer them through the stormy waters of state and federal approval.

Trout Unlimited also has designed a program that combines science, environmental studies, and civic involvement for school age children. Titled, Trout in the Classroom, students around the country hatch, nurture, and then release their own trout into local waterways.

The NJ chapter of Trout in the Classroom, run in partnership with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, also sponsors an annual Coldwater Conservation School in Sussex County that will be held from June 27 – June 30, 2013 and is open to youth who will be between the ages of 11 and 14 at the time of the program. (Applications are due no later than April 1, 2013 and the cost is $275.00, which includes food, lodging and equipment for the entire 4 days and 3 nights.)

Two “hundred year”  storms in a 12 month period have  highlighted the concerns of flooding along the Ramapo River and the health of the river in general. Oakland has recently addressed specific erosion issues, organized a river clean-up, and the Trout Unlimited presentation to the Flood Commission on January 14th  may provide a platform for continued discussions on how Oakland maintains a healthy river.