Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 276 Canaan Valley & Environs 2015 Southeastern Naturalist 14(Special Issue 7):276–296 Historic Fishery of the Blackwater River Peter E. Zurbuch1,* Abstract - This paper examines the changes in the Blackwater River’s fishery from presettlement wilderness conditions to the present, and concludes with comments regarding the future of this resource. I estimate the extent of the native Salvelinus fontinalis (Brook Trout) fishery present prior to European settlement based on writings of the era and results of trout-stream restoration in West Virginia. I also describe the effects of logging, fire, and coal mining on the river’s water quality and the subsequent demise of the Brook Trout fishery. I examine the partial recovery of the watershed and its fishery using records of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) and its predecessors that provided data regarding Blackwater River fish stockings, creel censuses, and fish surveys, and from conversations with local anglers. I also report on efforts to restore the lower Blackwater River in the mid-1990s when a limestone treatment facility was installed just upstream from Davis, WV to neutralize the acid-mine drainage entering the river. The effort improved water quality enough so that a fishery developed in the Blackwater Canyon. I describe the efficacy of an in-stream limestone-sand treatment to remediate the effects of acid deposition and facilitate recovery of the local native Brook Trout streams. Finally, I discuss the future of the Blackwater River and its fishery as related to climate warming, acid deposition, land development, water pollution, and water u sage. Wilderness “Behold the land of Canaan” were a fur trader’s first words in 1748 when viewing the high, forested valley in the western part of Virginia (Robinson 1953). One can only wonder what the Blackwater River drainage was like when it was in its wilderness state. As a fishery biologist who has spent most of my career studying and restoring West Virginia trout fisheries, I can imagine the ultimate river habitat for the only stream-dwelling trout then present in the eastern portion of the North American continent—Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill) (Brook Trout). The following description, based on historic research, as well as my own personal experiences, depicts the likely condition of the Blackwater drainage and its fish inhabitants in the times prior to European settlement. Within Canaan Valley (hereafter, the Valley), the river was slow moving, dark and deep, with only a few riffle stretches as it wound >20 mi (32 km) through the 13-mi (21-km)-long Valley where it then exited through a cut in the surrounding mountains. The banks were forested with immense Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. (Eastern Hemlock) and Picea rubra Sarg. (Red Spruce) interspersed with Rhododendron maximum L. (Great Rhododendron) that hung over the river in the sunlight at the edge of the dense forest (Clarkson 1964). Every few meters a Red Spruce or Eastern 1Wildlife Resources Section, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, PO Box 67, Elkins, WV 26241. *Author deceased, address correspondence to David Thorne, WV Division of Natural Resources, PO Box 67, Elkins, WV 26241; david.w.thorne@wv.gov. Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 277 Hemlock lay submerged in varying degrees of decay, attesting to the thousands of years of the forest’s existence and providing cover for Brook Trout and habitat for the aquatic insects that they fed on. In the critical summer months, the river maintained a good flow because the many inches (centimeters) of forest duff (humus) held water and then released it gradually during dry periods; water temperatures probably did not exceed 16 ºC (61 ºF) because the river was so densely shaded. The color of the river was a dark cinnamon or black, hence its name, and the water chemistry was excellent for the support of the trout and the macroinvertebrate populations they relied upon for most of their food. The pH was probably 7 or above with calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrient concentrations ideal for maximizing the river’s productivity (WVDNR 2000). The limestone geology of the Valley floor (Fortney 1975) provided the basis for the river chemistry. During the spring and summer months, species from 18 or more genera of mayflies (WVDNR 2000) emerged from the river’s bottom, and those that avoided the Brook Trout’s stomach took flight for their annual courtship. If you or I were able to go back and fish the Blackwater River during this period, we would catch many 12–13-inch (305–330-mm) Brook Trout, with a few fish close to 15 in (380 mm) in length (Kennedy 1853, Menendez et al. 1996). The fish would be deep bodied because of the abundant, excellent food and trout habitat the river provided. If we were good trout anglers, we would easily catch 100 or more fish a day unless a late spring snowstorm forced us to find cover (Kennedy 1853, Selders 1917). If we were to fish using dry flies, it would require chest waders to traverse the river because of the steep 3–5 ft (1–1.4 m)-high banks and the dense forest. We would also have to share the fishing grounds with Lotra canadensis (Schreber) (River Otter) (Robinson 1953) and an occasional Pandion haliaetus (L.) (Osprey) or Haliaeetus leucocephalus (L.) (Bald Eagle). The fishery in the river would have been almost exclusively Brook Trout (Kennedy 1853, Menendez et al. 1996, Selders 1917). Other species such as Clinostomus elongatus (Kirtland) (Redside Dace), a glacial relic, were certainly in the Blackwater’s drainage (Stauffer et al.1995). Larger Brook Trout soon ate any dace or other open-water species that ventured into the main river. These species probably thrived in the smaller tributaries not often frequented by ≥12-in (305-mm) Brook Trout. Other species that spent most of their lives near the river substrate were probably able to withstand Brook Trout predation and reproduce there. These fish species could have included Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque (Johnny Darter), Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque (Greenside Darter), and Cottus bairdii Girard (Mottled Sculpin) (Stauffer et al.1995, WVDNR 2000). Leaving the Valley through the gap between what are now named Canaan and Brown Mountains, we would fish a river that was gaining speed as the stream gradient increased. The river was a little wider and shallower there, with frequent riffles; its banks were not as steep, and there was more rock and cobble in its substrate. Looking into the shallower riffles, we would be able to see large numbers of Sphaerium spp. (fingernail clams), Heliosoma anceps (Menke) (Two-ridge Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 278 Rams-horn Snail), and Physa heterostropha (Say) (Pewter Physa) as well as lesser numbers of Strophitus undulates (Say) (Squaw Foot Mussel) (Schwartz and Meredith 1962, WVDNR 2000). Lifting up a rock or two, we would be able to catch a Cambarus bartonii carinirostris Hay (Rock Crawfish) and use the tail to bait our hook (Jezerinac et al.1995). The river was still enclosed on both sides by the dense forest, but we could probably work our way along its banks. It would begin a gradual turn to the southwest after flowing through the Valley in a northeasterly direction. About 5 km (3 mi) down-river, we would reach a major tributary entering from the north—the confluence of the Blackwater River with Beaver Creek where the town of Davis would be built. We would also be fishing a section of the river where others fished when the area was still a wilderness and, more importantly, left a record for posterity (Kennedy 1853, Selders 1917). Until now we have imagined a fishery based on 20th-century surveys and research, tidbits of information from other publications, and on my own best judgments. The earliest record of fishing the Blackwater River was that of Philip Pendleton Kennedy (Kennedy 1853). Kennedy made his trip into the area in 1851, and although the descriptions of the forest, streams, and fishing are very interesting reading, they are limited to wilderness conditions. Additionally, Kennedy and his party fished the North Fork of the Blackwater River, mistaking it for the main river (Brown 1959, Zurbuch 1996). In contrast are the writings of Valentine Selders, who in 1917 wrote the history of his life as a farmer in Preston County (Selders 1917). Selders included one chapter in his A Pioneer’s Memoir, titled “Trip to Blackwater for Brook Trout”, in which he detailed a number of fishing excursions to the Blackwater River. These trips began in about 1865, 14 years after Kennedy’s trip, and continued into the early 1900s. Valentine describes fishing in the wilderness, witnessing the settlement of the area, noting increased fishing after the railroad reached the river, the effects of logging on fishing, and eventually the destruction of the Brook Trout fishery. Kennedy used a number of pseudonyms for himself and others on their 1851 trip to the Blackwater. The one I think best fit him for this trip, and his later life, was Murad the Unlucky. After being lost for nearly a day and a half, he finally reached a stream his guides had told him was the Blackwater River. He fished the stream, which was the North Fork of the Blackwater, and then wrote a book describing the fishing, and the Great Falls of the Blackwater. Descending to the mouth of the North Fork he saw what he believed was the Cheat River, but in reality was the Blackwater River for which he had quested. However, his description of the Brook Trout fishing is the first recorded for the area, is very enlightening, and warrants inclusion of an excerpt here. Having descended below the highest falls on the North Fork, and fishing in the pool below it, he described the fishing: “The master (Kennedy) drew up the first fish. He had thrown in just at the edge of the foam and spray of the fall, and a quick, bold pull swept his line through the foam. On the instant, with a switch of his rod sidewise, then throwing it up aloft, he landed between his thighs (for it was Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 279 water all around him) a fine vigorous trout, breaking off about two feet of the switch-end of his maple rod. This trout was a foot long, and some three inches deep behind the shoulders. … It was great work, and the excitement intense. In the course of a quarter of an hour we had caught, among all of us, some twenty fine fish—some of them thirteen inches long—and this with no other bait than the common red worm. Indeed, if to take a quantity of trout be your only objective, so full is the stream of them, and so ravenous are they, that with any sort of a line, and anything of a hook—a pin-hook if you can get no other—you may take as many as you can carry.” Kennedy also comments on a color variation of the Brook Trout: “This rock we have appropriated as our kitchen; and upon it we have counted out some five hundred trout, varying in size from six to ten inches—some of them, the black trout, with deep red spots—and some salmon-colored, with lighter red spots—all of them very beautiful ….” Sweet (2002), in the preface to a recently released edition of the The Blackwater Chronicle, postulated that Kennedy may have recorded a unique strain of Brook Trout that was later destroyed “… as a result of subsequent environmental degradation”. Maybe so, but I believe it may have been simply the difference between male and female fish. In hatchery fish, especially with Rainbow Trout, some of the males are almost black, and the females are much lighter and have the species’ typical coloration. When Kennedy wrote about salmon-colored trout, was he referring to the color or the salmon? The salmon he would have probably been familiar with was Salmo salar L. (Atlantic Salmon). Or, it may have been the color difference between freshly caught fish and those that had been caught hours previously. However, Maxwell (1884), when describing the color of the Black Fork (probably the Blackwater) as being a dark red further states: “Even the fish … are colored by the water. Not only does the color attach to their scales, surface and fins, but their flesh, if properly so called, is colored throughout.” Much like the trip Kennedy made, Selders and his friends first rode horses from home in Preston County as far as practical, and then hiked the remaining distance to the Blackwater River. In later years, they took a horse and wagon part way, and then rode the railroad to their destination. Having been on a hunting trip to the area previously, Selders did not get lost on his first trip for Brook Trout as Kennedy had. This is what he said about this (circa 1865) trip: “I will here tell of a trip Bro. Christian, Jacob Beachy, and I made to Black Waters when it was a vast wilderness. I had been up there once before on a hunting trip, so I did not need a guide this time. We traveled on horseback as far as the old George Mosser place, then sent our horses home and traveled 10 miles through the wilderness on foot. That evening we reached the place where the town of Davis now is, after which we went to fishing and caught 40 nice trout for supper. We cut down a large pine tree and peeled the bark off, which we used to build us a camp for the night. We decided to fish down the stream to Black Water Falls the following day, and up the stream the next day, which was to be our last day, as we had arranged to meet a man with our horses the following day, to take us home. Well the second Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 280 morning we started out fishing down the river and continued on til evening but were not in sight of the Falls yet. The fish were biting so well that we did not get along very fast. Bro. and I got into the stream and waded down. I remember Jacob Beachy was fishing along the bank, and he said every time he looked at us, one, or both of us were taking a fish off our hooks. The second morning we decided we wanted to see the Falls, so we fished down stream again, and went pretty fast. We reached the Falls at noon, which is a grand site, the water falling over a precipice 62 feet. We ate our lunch, and fished a while at the Falls, but did not catch as many fish as we did farther up the river; we fished up the stream toward camp again. In the evening about quitting time I was fishing at the mouth of a little stream that emptied into the river, where I could catch them as fast as I could take them off of my hook and bait it again. The boys went on and told me to come, that night would overtake us, after which I said I would come just as soon as the fish would let up a little, but it was the same old thing. I saw the boys still going on, so I pulled out another one, and broke the line from my pole, and started on. We cleaned our fish and salted some in buckets which we took home. On that journey we had good weather, a fine time, and caught over 600 fish.” Industrial Development and Settlement The West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh railroad reached the site of the town of Davis in the fall of 1884 at the same time the clearing of the land was completed so construction of the town could begin (Guthrie 1998). Until that time, only a few families lived in the area, but that soon changed when the timber barons of the late 1800s moved in to claim their share of the Red Spruce, Eastern Hemlock, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (Balsam Fir), Prunus serotina Ehrh. (Black Cherry), and other hardwoods (Clarkson 1964, Michael 2002). By 1909, most of the timber had been taken from the Valley, and the loggers had moved into the area southwest of Davis that included the Blackwater Canyon. By 1925, the lumber mills had closed or moved elsewhere, and stumps covered all of Tucker County (Robinson 1953). The question arises: how long did the Brook Trout fishery withstand this onslaught? Again, we can turn to Valentine Selders (1917) as he recounts another fishing trip to the Blackwater. “Some years later, after the railroad was built up to Davis, we tried our luck again on the old Blackwater. Bro. Christian, who was then living near Accident, in Garrett Co., Md. came up with several young men. There were 8 of us this time, and we walked over to the railroad, which was a distance of about 8 or 10 miles, then boarded the train for Davis, which we reached soon after the middle of the day. We wanted to get some distance away from town so we walked up the river 3 miles, and camped under a large rock which extended out over the bank. It began raining again, and we were ready to fish about 3 o’clock that afternoon, and fished till 6 PM, when I had 126 trout, which I pulled out in 3 hours, that being the most I ever caught with the hook in that length of time. The second day we fished until 11 o’clock then got ready to Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 281 go home. Eight of us had caught more than 800 fish, and Bro. and I had caught more than half of them, as we were racing. The first day I beat Bro. and the next morning he beat me, but both days fishing put together I had more than Bro. had. That was some fishing, sure.” Valentine ended his chapter on fishing the Blackwater River with these sad comments. “I was up there several times since that, but did not do so well, as they were being caught out more rapid after the railroad came to Davis. People came in from other states to catch Brook Trout, which were the only fish in there then, but now the trout are all gone, and there are a few suckers and chubs to take their place. When that country was all wilderness there was some of the finest timber there that I ever saw, but it is all gone now.” From these writings it is evident that excellent Brook Trout fishing continued after the logging commenced. How long the trout fishing resource remained viable is conjecture, but for a while the fishery may have even improved as additional woody vegetation was put into the river and summer flows increased as transpiration loss was reduced from the dwindling forest. Nutrient concentrations may have also increased for a while during and after the logging, as was shown to occur after logging in the Fernow Experimental Forest located near Parsons (Eschner and Larmoyeux 1963). The Brook Trout is an adaptable fish in that it seems able to withstand certain impacts to its habitat and persist, yet it may be very vulnerable to other environmental changes. In West Virginia, we often find that the only species left in acid depositionimpacted streams is Brook Trout (Clayton et al.1998). However, the species cannot tolerate high water temperature. Some colleagues have asked me what caused the destruction of the Blackwater River’s Brook Trout fishery. Was it the additional tannic acid in the river from logs being floated to the mills, or the increased sedimentation from the logging? Although I believe tannic acid probably was not a problem and sedimentation had an impact, the increase of the river’s summer water temperatures was likely the deciding factor that made the river unsuitable habitat for Brook Trout (Needham 1938). This suggestion is supported by Valentine Selders’ comments “… but now the trout are all gone, and there are a few suckers and chubs to take their place.” Some fish were able to survive in the river, but not the Brook Trout. This condition is typical of many of the Valley’s streams that supported Brook Trout fisheries in pre-colonial times, but after logging they became too warm, and the trout survived only in higher-elevation tributaries. The Blackwater River also followed this pattern, with many of its headwater tributaries maintaining Brook Trout populations long after logging ended; some remain today (Allman 1976, WVDNR 2001a). The critically high river temperatures were probably reached soon after logging ended. By this time, there were no trees to shade and cool the waterways, and then the area experienced fires that removed much of the forest duff, which had previously acted as a sponge, releasing cool water in the summer (Brooks 1965). When the logging railroads eventually reached into the Valley and its surrounding mountains, great care was taken to prevent fires caused by sparks from Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 282 locomotives (Guthrie 1998). A fire burned on Canaan Mountain from May to July 1894, but the forest crews were able to keep it away from most of the railroad. In 1900, however, another fire that swept over the mountain consumed the rails’ wooden supports (Guthrie 1998). In his History of Tucker County, Fanser (1962) describes two major fires, one in 1910 near Davis that burned 7000 ac (2833 ha), and another in the Blackwater Canyon that burned for 6 months from May to November 1914. Michael (2002), in his recently released book A Valley Called Canaan: 1885–2002, describes a major fire that occurred in 1923, but this was a fictitious fire designed to fit the book’s story and a consolidation of a number of fires that he believed burned in the early 1920s (E.D. Michael, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, pers. comm.). Some fires were deliberately set during this period because it was the policy of Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen Benton Elkins, local timber and coal barons of the era, to burn timbered lands to try and convert them into a vast grazing range (Fanser 1962). Fish species including Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill) (Creek Chub), Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) (Bluntnose Minnow), Catastomus commersoni (Lacepede) (White Sucker), and Campostoma anomalum Hubbs and Greene (Stoneroller) repopulated the former Brook Trout habitat (WVDNR 2000). There is a record that shows this change in the fishery on Shavers Fork, the southern tributary of the Cheat River. Logging in the Shavers Fork drainage started in earnest about 1900—some 15 years after it began in the Valley—when a railroad was built into its upper reaches from Cass (Clarkson 1964). A sportsman club’s lodge, now referred to as the Cheat Mountain Club, had been built on this section of the river. The club maintained a fishing record from 1894 through 1922. Here are some of the entries: “1894, July, 115 trout (Brook Trout), one day trip; 1900, June, 129 trout, four days, water too cold for big trout up stream, only caught one 11 1/4”, all fair size but not as big fish as on former trips, water so cold almost impossible to wade; 1901, June, largest trout of the season—13 3/4”; 1901, July, 1 trout 12 1/2”, 4 trout 11-11 3/4”, 10 trout over 9 1/2”; 1903, August, had a royal good time and caught bbls. of fish; 1904, June, 1 trout 10”, 1 trout 13 3/4”, 1 trout 14”, one hour catch—raining; 1905, June, 11 trout, trout jumpin— caught 11 between hours of six and nine p.m., several rods were in use but no expert anglers were present; 1910, May, 26 trout, got trout in forenoon, one 11 1/4”, one 10 1/2”; 1911, June, 67 trout, 1-12”, 3-10”, several 9”; 1912, May, 50 trout and 2 chubs; 1914, July, chubs, only few trout – many (Oh thousands) of chubs (Ye little fish), it is this writers opinion that this date is too late for trout; 1917, June, chubs, 1 barrel of chubs; 1917, September , we want more fish in the stream.” If such a log had been maintained at the Dobbin House, a summer retreat built in 1859 near Blackwater Falls on a promontory overlooking Pendleton Run (Fanser 1962), and the house and log still existed, we would likely find the decline in the Brook Trout fishery and ascendancy of a chub fishery recorded in similar fashion, but about 10 y earlier than at Shavers Fork. Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 283 Recovery Following logging and fires, the Blackwater and its tributaries began to recover, although the recovery can only be accurately described as partial. Never again would the water quality be as good as what I believe was present when Kennedy (1853) and his friends visited the region. After disturbance, many wrote about the fabled Brook Trout fishery, but none would experience it. The Valley was partially reforested with Prunus pensylvanica L.f (Fire Cherry), Populus tremuloides Michx. (Trembling Aspen), and P. grandidentata Michx. (Bigtooth Aspen) that emerged among rocks exposed by the fires (Brooks 1965, Michael 2002). Large areas were used for grazing cattle and growing hay (Allman 1976). The National Forests were established, and the Civilian Conservation Corps formed to reclaim the land ravaged by the logging and fire (Brooks 1965). Some of the Valley’s western slopes were included in the National Forest system, but most of the Blackwater River drainage remained in private owner ship. West Virginia State officials were involved in trying to save the State’s fisheries as early as 1877 when the West Virginia Fish Commission was organized (Kinney 1963). In their first year, the Commission issued a report that showed their concern: “… the best of our streams scarcely afford sport for the anglers and no one relies on them for a supply of food.” In this first year, they also constructed a fish hatchery and stocked over 700,000 trout, salmon, Alosa sapidissima (Wilson) (Shad), and Micropterus spp. (bass). The Fish Commission wielded less power and influence than the timber and coal interests in the State, and trout stocking was discontinued by 1883. There is no hatchery record that any trout were stocked in the Blackwater River drainage between 1877 and 1883 (Zurbuch 2002). Because the fishery was still excellent until well after the railroad was built into Davis in 1884, there was probably no clamor from disgruntled fishermen to stock trout as there must have been in other areas of West Virginia. Hoever, there may have been unrecorded stocking of Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) (Rainbow Trout)—called California Trout during the early troutstocking period—in the lower reaches of the Blackwater River. Robinson (1953) relates this conversation with his uncle: “Uncle Thad Hinebaugh only the other day when speaking of old Judge Dobbin recalled when Clarence Livengood and Mr. Overholt, the founder of Overholt Whiskey, visited Dobbin Manor. At daybreak they went down below the Falls where they caught huge Rainbow Trout while at the same time a painter (panther) was screaming at them from its crest.” Fanser (1962) gives the construction dates of the Dobbin House (Manor) as 1858–1859 and its destruction by fire as 1884, which would have occurred during the period in which the hatchery was operational. Valentine Selders also stayed at the Dobbin House during a spring fishing trip when he and his companions were forced to take shelter there from a late spring snowstorm—the house was unoccupied at the time (Selders 1917). West Virginia did not establish another fish hatchery until 1930, but the federal government opened the White Sulphur Springs hatchery in 1902. During the Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 284 next 30 years, most of the trout stocked in the state came from the White Sulphur Hatchery. The first recorded trout stocking in the Blackwater River was in 1909 near Davis, and consisted of 25,000 Rainbow Trout fingerlings. These Rainbow Trout were listed in the hatchery stocking records as California Trout. Because non-native fish were being reared for release, I believe one can correctly assume that the Blackwater River Brook Trout fishery was in serious trouble by the time the 1909 stocking was made. The goal of the early fish stockings was to produce fish that would grow into adults, spawn, and repopulate the streams. Rainbow Trout populations became established in only the few sites where water quality and habitat conditions matched the requirements of the species. The first recorded Brook Trout stocking was made in the Blackwater River in 1910. Again the trout were stocked in the vicinity of Davis and included 2500 fingerlings. Salmo trutta L. (Brown Trout) were first introduced into West Virginia in 1891–1892 when 10,000 fingerlings were stocked in the State’s streams. However, the 1891–1892 Annual Report of the West Virginia Fish Commissioners does not mention the Blackwater River or any of its tributaries as having been stocked. Although two European strains of Brown Trout were used in these initial stockings, the Loch Leven trout (referring to their Scottish origin) was the primary form stocked and reared in West Virginia hatcheries. In 1925, the State’s annual report shows that 30,000 Brook Trout fingerlings were stocked in the Blackwater River and its tributaries. The Federal Hatchery report for the same year stated that 58,100 Loch Leven Brown Trout were stocked in West Virginia waters. Some of these may have been placed in the Blackwater, but the locations of the stockings were not recorded. The first recorded stocking of Brown Trout in the Blackwater River (McGavock and Davis 1935) was during 1933–34, when 4050 fingerlings were planted in the main Blackwater; no specific location was given. It was also reported by McGavock and Davis (1935) that during the same period there were 4200 Brook Trout fingerlings stocked in tributaries of the Blackwater. By 1940, fingerling trout-stocking was being replaced by stocking of adult fish of all 3 species (Brook, Brown, and Rainbow Trout), leading to the present-day put-and-take fishery. Fingerling trout are still being stocked, but comprise a rather small outlay in the overall State hatchery budget. Currently, the Blackwater River annually receives >20,000 adult trout and 100–200 pounds of fingerlings, mostly consisting of Brown Trout (Zurbuch 2002). The stocked sections of the Blackwater River are described in the West Virginia Trout Fishing Guide (WVDNR 1996). During this recovery period for the Blackwater River, which I will define as 1909 to 1940, there is scant information available on the rate of the fishery’s recovery and the fate of the trout stockings. Since by the mid-1920s, fingerling stockings generally took place on an annual basis, and one has to assume water-quality parameters were stabilized, there was some expectation that the stockings, especially the Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout, would be able to survive. In general terms, fingerling stocking of the various trout species did not return the streams to their former productivity, nor could it meet the fishing pressure Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 285 exerted on them. However, at some sites, conditions were such that the fingerlings survived, reproduced, and then maintained a population (e.g., Rainbow and Brown Trout, both having been introduced into the State). A good example of a self-sustaining Rainbow Trout population is the one in nearby Seneca Creek that heads near Spruce Knob and flows into the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River at Seneca Rocks. There are also a few streams in the State that maintain viable Brown Trout populations. The success of the Brook Trout-fingerling stockings is not so easily discerned. If we find a stream with a self-sustaining Brook Trout population, then are the fish genetically the same as those present before stocking was initiated, or are they the result of stocking, or a combination of the native trout and hatchery introductions? There have been a number of genetic studies that attempted to determine these questions. In West Virginia, we observed a stream-spawned Brook Trout population in a stream where restoration efforts had taken place to mitigate the effects of acid deposition; the population was a genetic mixture of hatchery and native fish (Menendez et al. 1996). I believe if a genetic investigation were made of the Brook Trout that are extant in some of the tributaries of the Blackwater River, we would find that they are a combination of the various strains of stocked fish with those native to the drainage. Did the Rainbow Trout introductions into the Blackwater ever successfully spawn? There are no State fish collections that would indicate this, but Don Good, proprietor of the Valley Stores, said that when he fished the Blackwater in the central portion of the Valley during 1980–1995, he occasionally caught a Rainbow Trout that was distinctive from hatchery-stocked Rainbow Trout (D.R. Good, Davis, WV, pers. comm.). Rainbow Trout are silvery with a brilliant red stripe down the sides. Mr. Good reported having been told that Rainbow Trout successfully spawned in Club Run or Big Run. I have caught similarly colored Rainbow Trout when fishing the headwaters of Shavers Fork. These fish were probably from a documented spawning population of Rainbow Trout that remains viable in the upper reaches of that river. Some State fishery biologists feel that Brown Trout have spawned successfully in a number of the tributaries of the Blackwater River in the Valley. I have observed Brown Trout spawning in the North Branch and Freeland Run (1960s), but do not know whether or not they were successful. The numerous hatchery stockings of Brown Trout fingerlings that have taken place on the river over several decades make it impossible to determine if Brown Trout caught by anglers and collected during fish surveys are of hatchery origin or stream spawned. However, in 1999, a chemical (rotenone) sampling of a section of the Blackwater River produced some Brown Trout fingerlings in the canyon that originated from stream spawning of the resident Brown Trout population (WVDNR 2000). The survey took place well before Brown Trout fingerlings were stocked that year. My interview with Don Good provided additional information regarding the Blackwater River fishery during the 1940–1995 period. Mr. Good was raised in Davis, and his father fished the Blackwater River below the falls for Brown Trout Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 286 in the 1940s. He told of catching large Brown Trout using night crawlers as bait. As a youth, Don had fished the headwaters of Beaver Creek for Brook Trout and the Blackwater River in the Valley, where he caught Rainbow, Brown, and Brook Trouts. However, he had never fished in the canyon where his father had fished. Finally, in the early 1990s, he and a friend named Sandy Green decided to replicate his father’s canyon fishing. They collected a good supply of night crawlers and made an early morning descent of Pendleton Run to the Blackwater River where they commenced fishing upstream toward Blackwater Falls. It took them a good 10 hours to reach the falls! They had fished their night crawlers for about half the distance to the falls and had not caught or seen a fish and were about to give up. Sandy Green decided then to switch baits and tied on a spinner with a yellow fly—Don could remember the exact lure. On his first cast using the spinner and fly, Sandy caught a nice 406-mm (16-inch) Brown Trout. Both men began fishing spinners and catching trout. During the remainder of their fishing trip, they caught 6 Brown Trout, 1 Rainbow Trout, 1 Brook Trout, and 1 Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede) (Largemouth Bass). When the Brook Trout was netted, a Brown Trout followed it into the net and was also captured. No chubs or other fish species were caught or seen. The Brown Trout had large red spots and were much darker than those the men had caught in the Valley. The fish were in good condition though not fat, indicating their food supply may have been limited. Mr. Good believed the other 3 species had been swept over the Falls and originated from hatchery stockings. The Brook Trout was very slender, which may have been the result of temperature stress and poor feeding. Largemouth Bass had been stocked in the Valley’s northern beaver ponds in 1963 and 1964 by the WV Department of Natural Resources (Elkins WV, unpubl. data), and this specimen probably traveled down river from one of the stocked ponds. In 1994, a couple of years after this fishing trip, the State conducted a fish survey below the Falls and collected one Brown Trout and a number of non-game species (WVDNR 2000). Mr. Good and 11 other anglers spent a week in mid-April camping alongside the Blackwater River in the Valley during an annual fishing foray (1980–1995). John Cooper, whom I also interviewed (J.W. Cooper, Parsons, WV, pers. comm.), was included in this fishing party. The group put canoes in at the Jason Harmon Bridge (Timberline Bridge), located in the middle part of the Valley, and floated down river where they set up camp. At the end of the trip they canoed down to Camp 70, where the river leaves the Valley, and met their transportation to take them home. They fished up and down river from their camp and soon got to know the best habitat to catch trout. The trout they caught were mostly from hatchery stockings that had drifted down from up-stream or worked their way up from below Camp 70. No hatchery truck could reach that part of the river. Occasionally they caught a Brown Trout or a Rainbow Trout with pink flesh, the presence of which indicates a hatchery origin, either as a holdover from some previous year’s stocking or from stocked fish that spawned in one of the Blackwater’s tributaries. The largest trout Mr. Good can remember catching on these excursions was a Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 287 20-in (508-mm) Brown Trout. He could not remember catching any Brown Trout less than 8 in (203 mm) long. The group tried fishing at night for large Brown Trout, but only caught catfish that were probably Ameiurus nebulosus (Lesueur) (Brown Bullheads) (WVDNR 2000, 2001a). Mr. Good also indicated that he believed Brook Trout and Brown Trout reproduced successfully in Sand Run before the lake was constructed on it. A few years after the lake was filled in the early 1980s, he received permission to fish there. During this period, he was able to catch and release Brown Trout measuring 14–24 in (356–610 mm) long, as well as trophy-sized Brook Trout. He caught most of the trout in the upper part of the lake in the old stream channel where some springs were located. He believes that Brown Trout and Brook Trout are still reproducing in Sand Run above the impoundment. The big trout disappeared after the lake was opened to general fishing. He also fished the North Branch of the Blackwater and caught all 3 species of trout, including Brown Trout 8–18 in (203–457 mm) in length, although he saw larger ones. His uncle had told him that at one time there was good native Brook Trout fishing in the headwaters of the North Branch. Don also mentioned a spring at the lower end of the North Branch where trout gathered during the summer months. John Cooper also reported catching big Brown Trout in the North Branch. Mr. Cooper presently resides in the Valley, and Yoakum Run flows through his property. He says Yoakum Run, Glade Run, Idleman Run, and Freeland Run all still contain native Brook Trout populations. Mr. Harry Reed, a resident of the Valley, also shared some recollections of Brown Trout angler experiences on the Blackwater River, which he fished frequently from 1958 to 1985 (H. Reed, Canaan Heights, WV, pers. comm.). Mr. Reed fished mostly from Camp 70 up to the mouth of Sand Run. Although he does not fish as much these days, in 2001 he caught an 18-in (457-mm) Brown Trout and believes he could do the same today. He had success using live grasshoppers to catch large Brown Trout. In the summer of 2001, Mr. Reed observed big Brown Trout moving into Sand Run to the section where springs were located. He also observed Brown Trout spawning while he was trapping in beaver ponds on the North Branch and he saw several inhabiting the springs behind Cooper’s house. Allman (1976) tells of a number of springs on farms in the Valley that held big Brown Trout and Brook Trout that were fed and treated as pets. She also says that most of the tributaries from the western slopes of the Valley contained native Brook Trout until the muddy water from the construction of State Route 32 eliminated most of them. I guess I would be remiss if I did not relate some of my early fishing experiences on the Blackwater River. I fished it once in the late 1940s just above Davis. My uncle had a camp on Sliphill Mill Run located between Parsons and St. George, WV. One day we journeyed from the camp up to the Blackwater for a day of trout fishing. I can’t remember much about the trip except that I wanted to go back for more fishing. I got that chance in the early 1950s while attending West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. I borrowed the family “Olds 88” and Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 288 made a number of trips to the Blackwater River. I fished the section of the river between Davis and Camp 70. The most exciting part of those trips was driving the car across the bridge over Beaver Creek. The bridge had no planking at that time except narrow parallel sets of boards that just fit the width of the car tires. I drove the car upriver and then hiked up-river and fished downstream toward the car. I fished wet flies that I tied myself, and usually fished 3 at a time. I often caught a good number of Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout that were probably mostly hatchery fish. Occasionally, I hooked a large Brown Trout while fishing this section of the river. In 1957, I moved to Elkins, WV as an employee of the West Virginia Conservation Commission (now called the WVDNR) and fished the Blackwater often in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I fished mostly in the upper and mid-portions of the river in the Valley. I had switched to dry-fly fishing by that time and had good success, again catching mostly hatchery Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout with the occasional large Brown Trout. Memories of one trip are particularly vivid because of the size of the fish and the means I used to catch it. I was fishing down river from the Jason Harmon Bridge and observed a trout feeding in an especially deep hole against the far bank. I tried a number of dry flies, even down to a number 18-size hook, trying to match the small flying ants the trout was feeding on. Finally, I took my penknife and scraped the material off the hook until only bare hook remained. I put the tip of my fly rod under a floating ant and let it crawl on it. Then with the ant firmly impaled on the hook, I made a perfect cast that placed the ant in a drift that took it directly over where the trout was feeding. The fish was fooled by the deception, and I landed one of the largest Rainbow Trout I had ever caught. The fish was more than 18 in (457 mm) in length and in excellent condition. Perhaps its origin was a State or Federal Hatchery, but I could not see any evidence that it had once been in a hatchery runway. These fish stories show that the Blackwater River recovered after the logging and destructive fires, although the fishery was changed to a mostly hatcherysupported one relying on two imported species, the Rainbow Trout from the west coast and the European Brown Trout. The Brook Trout was still present in some tributaries of the river, but could not survive in the main river . Valentine Selders (1917) complained about the increased fishing p ressure the Blackwater River received after the railroad reached Davis. After the river had recovered so that hatchery stocking of trout again provided fishing, pressure from resident and nonresident anglers continued to increase. Five major West Virginia trout streams were censused during the 1959 season (Zurbuch 1962). These included stocked sections of the Blackwater River, North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River, South Branch of the Potomac River, Elk River, and Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. The Blackwater River received more than twice the fishing pressure than the other streams. It also had the highest return of stocked trout (estimated 88%; Zurbuch 1962). This study helped to provide some basic information on fishing pressure and success of the trout-stocking program. It led to West Virginia’s present year-round open trout-fishing season. Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 289 Acidification A number of published reports detail the history and extent of both deep and surface mining in the lower portion of the Blackwater River watershed (Phares 1971; USEPA 1971; WVDNR 1981, 1982). A 1929 fish kill in Lake Lynn, on the lower Cheat River, necessitated one of the earliest stream-pollution surveys of the Cheat River and its tributaries (Carpenter and Herndon 1929). The investigators, a professor of sanitary engineering at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, and a chemical engineer with the West Virginia State Water Commission, believed the fish kill occurred following low flow and was caused by a concentration of mine acid that was moved down the river during a sharp rise in flow. Reports indicated most of the acid entering the upper Cheat River originated from the Blackwater River drainage, specifically its North Fork. Carpenter and Herndon (1929) observed no evidence of fish in the Blackwater River downstream of the confluence of the North Fork. Carpenter and Herndon’s (1929) investigation is interesting reading, and many of the conclusions they drew remain applicable today. Deep mining began near Thomas shortly after the railroads penetrated the region (Clarkson 1964). Coal was needed to fire the train locomotives that ran on the main tracks and those that hauled the timber out of the woods. In later years, additional mines were opened in the North Fork drainage to provide the coal for the coke ovens that sprang up on the banks of the stream. Acid mine drainage from these mines and from the surface mining that followed ef fectively eliminated the fisheries of the North Fork below Thomas and the main Blackwater below its junction with the North Fork (Carpenter and Herndon 1929). I found no reports that described the fishery in the Blackwater canyon before logging and mining began. Kennedy (1853) saw the river when he descended the North Fork to its mouth, but didn’t recognize it as the Blackwater. It took his close friend David Hunter Strother, who accompanied Kennedy on the 1851 trip, two more trips into the wilderness before he actually viewed Blackwater Falls (Strother 1873). Strother, who wrote using the pseudonym Porte Crayon, made his final trip to the area in 1857 or 1858, but delayed writing about it until after the Civil War. On that final trip, he and some companions worked their way up to the Falls from the mouth of the Blackwater. The negotiation of the canyon was so arduous they had little time for fishing and there was no dis cussion of it. In the 1940s, surface mining began in the Beaver Creek, North Fork, and Pendleton Run watersheds, adding additional mine acid to the river. The mine acid all but eliminated the Brook Trout in these streams and undoubtedly reduced the productivity of the Blackwater River downstream of Beaver Creek. In the late 1950s, a strip-mining operation on Beaver Creek broke into an abandoned deep mine releasing a large amount of concentrated acid water. This acidic water addition to the river channel caused an extensive fish kill that extended from Beaver Creek down into Blackwater Canyon. In 1959, the State discontinued trout-stocking in the section of the Blackwater River from Beaver Creek to the Falls because of the pollution (Zurbuch 1996). Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 290 In the mid-1960s, a surface-mining company attempted to treat the acid water in Beaver Creek by constructing a water-powered rotary-drum system (Zurbuch 1963) that ground limestone into a slurry that was then introduced into the stream (Zurbuch 1984) to buffer the acid. Because water to power the drums was limited, the system neutralized only about 20% of the stream’s acid load, and the project was abandoned. In the early 1990s, West Virginia embarked on a stream restoration project to remediate coal-mining-caused acidity (Zurbuch et al. 1997), and the Blackwater River was the first watershed addressed (WVDNR 2000, Zurbuch 1996). The WVDNR undertook design of a rotary limestone-drum treatment station for the Blackwater River and assessed the effects of treatment on water chemistry and stream biology. The treatment station was constructed on the main river ~0.5 miles (0.8 km) upstream of the mouth of Beaver Creek and went into operation in September 1994; it has provided continuous treatment since, and has restored the biological resources of the river downstream to the junction of the still highly acidic North Fork (WVDNR 2000). The fish population has increased in mass and species composition, and an outstanding trout fishery is again present in Blackwater Canyon (WVDNR 2000, 2001a). Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout are both living in the canyon waters and Brown Trout reproduction was documented in a 1999 fish survey (WVDNR 2001a). Based on restoration work with myriad acidified trout-streams, it takes ~10 years for fish and macroinvertebrates to stabilize after neutralization is initiated (Clayton and Menendez 1996). The 1999 canyon fish-survey (5th year of treatment) showed a dramatic increase in the fish population from pre-treatment levels. The number of fish increased from 242 to 3193/ac (598 to 7890/ha) and the biomass increased from 9.1 to 42.3 lb/ac (10.2 to 47.4 kg/ha). Brown Trout are expected to dominate the sport fishery when it stabilizes because current temperature data in the Blackwater River (WVDNR, unpubl. data) suggest the water is too warm to sustain a viable native Brook Trout fishery. The section of the river from the Blackwater Falls State Park bridge (just upstream of Blackwater Falls) downstream to the confluence with the North Fork has been designated a catch-and-release fishery by the WVDNR since 1995. I have not fished the canyon, but both John Cooper and Darell Hensley have relayed that it is an excellent fishery (D. Hensley, Tory Mountain Outfitters, Davis, WV, pers. comm.). D. Hensley has guided a number of anglers into the canyon each year since its restoration. He usually goes down Pendleton Run to the Blackwater River and fishes downstream to the North Fork. The best fishing is reported to be in the spring or fall when water temperatures are ideal for trout; however, it is difficult for anglers to find safe river flows and cool water temperatures at the same time. D. Hensley has noted radical daily changes between low and high water temperatures in the canyon during summer months, and these extremes are likely the major factor limiting trout-fishing success and survival. In spite of the difficulties, 16-in (406-mm) and larger Brown Trout are often taken by D. Hensley and his angling clients. Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 291 The issue of acid inputs to the Blackwater River from its North Fork has yet to be resolved. As part of a study to assess the effectiveness of acid-neutralization treatments in the Blackwater River, a similar treatment was employed in the North Fork (WVDNR 2000)—a monthly treatment using in-stream placement of limestone sand. The limestone-sand treatment cost about half as much as treatment with a rotary-drum system and was developed as an alternative to the rotary-drum system (Zurbuch 1989). Results from water quality tests indicated that even during periods when the drum system was inoperative, undissolved limestone sand from the rotary drum was still effectively neutralizing acid in downstream waters (Clayton et al. 1998). As a result of the limestone-sand study (Zurbuch 1989), Clayton et al. (1998) initiated a research project to study the efficacy of using quarry-produced limestone- sand-sized particles to treat acid-deposition-impaired streams. Over 50 West Virginia trout streams affected by acid deposition are annually being treated with in-stream placement of limestone sand. Findings from additional studies indicated that limestone sand was effective in neutralizing streams acidified by acid mine drainage (Menendez et al. 2000), and the Middle Fork River was restored using the sand-treatment method (WVDNR 2001b, Zurbuch et al. 1997). Much of this research was concurrent with the Blackwater River study and was the basis for the recommended limestone-sand treatment of the North Fork. However, sustained funding has never been secured for treating the North Fork (D. Broschart, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection [WVDEP], Philippi, WV, pers. comm.), and that river remains acidic today. In addition, the WVDEP’s surface mine and deep mine-reclamation efforts have greatly improved the aesthetic qualities of the landscape, and in pre- and post-1994 data comparisons, acid loading was reduced by 40% in the North Fork and by 41% in Beaver Creek (WVDNR 2000). It is likely that analyses of Pendleton Run would yield comparable results. WVDEP reclamation projects reduced acid inputs which made in-stream treatment of the remaining acid more effective. McGavock and Davis (1935) conducted a stream survey for the US Bureau of Fisheries in the Monongahela National Forest in 1934. One section of their report was titled Acid Streams of Tucker and Randolph County. These streams included two tributaries of the Blackwater River—Devils Run and Lindy Run. McGavock and Davis (1935) reported a stream-water pH less than 5.2 (the lower limit of equipment they had with them), and they found few or no fish in either stream. They erroneously believed that stream-water pH would increase and the streams would eventually regain their original condition once the uplands were reforested and after the drought during which they sampled ended. Today, over 70 years later, two of the streams they surveyed (Otter Creek and Red Run in the Dry Fork watershed) must be treated with limestone to neutralize their acidity and permit Brook Trout to live there; Brook Trout are still absent in others. It is unlikely that acid deposition was the cause of the streams’ acidity in 1934. Most likely, acid conditions were caused by the effects of logging and fires, and the subsequent depletion of the limited limestone resources Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 292 of the watersheds. Native limestone was dissolved and leached out of the watershed, and acidic vegetation, soils, and bedrock geology that remained produced the acidity. There were indications that acid deposition was occurring in West Virginia’s streams in the early 1970s when there were periodic spring fish kills in the Cranberry River during the peak of trout-stocking season. These die-offs were later related to measurable acidic precipitation events (Zurbuch 1984, 1993). I began to research and develop a more efficient rotary-drum system for treatment of the Cranberry River’s acidity (Zurbuch 1989). I conducted field research in the headwaters of Otter Creek at the site of the original WVDNR rotary-drum station. During the field studies, I replicated a water chemistry test that had been done 15 years earlier. A statistical analysis of the two sets of data showed that free acidity in the winter months had more than doubled between the two studies. I attributed this increase to the effects of acid precipitation (Zurbuch 1984). The Blackwater River watershed was undoubtedly experiencing a similar degree of acid deposition For instance, Van Meter (1955) reported a water pH of 5.9 in the Stony River reservoir (Potomac River watershed) in August 1955; this study was done before surface mining had reached the upper portion of the watershed. Hence, the headwater tributaries that lay adjacent to the Valley drained to the lake and must have caused the acidic conditions in the l ake. Evidence in the Blackwater River drainage also supported this premise. An analysis of Weimer Run, Davis’ drinking-water source and a major influence on the water chemistry in the sluice feeding the Blackwater rotary-drum station since at least 1986, expressed chemistry typical of an acid deposition-affected stream (West Virginia Bureau for Public Health 2001). In addition to Weimer Run, other tributaries of the Blackwater River were likely experiencing the effects of acid deposition, especially in their headwater reaches. Snyder et al. (1995) confirmed this suggestion during their survey of the Valley’s ponds and streams. The authors determined there were two predominant issues that affected the viability of aquatic organisms in the Valley: the effects of acid rain (deposition) in the headwater streams, and the conversion of stream habitat to pond habitat by the activities of the Valley’s Castor canadensis Kuhl (Beaver) population. Finally, the future of treatment to remediate the effects of acid-deposition primarily utilize the in-stream application of limestone sand to headwater streams (Clayton et al. 1998, Menendez et al. 2000, Petty and Thorne 2005). The natural hydrologic cycle of high-water events distributes the limestone sand downstream and mixes it with the natural silica sand of the stream where it slowly dissolves as it moves with the bed load of similar-sized particles, neutralizing acid as it does so. The limestone sand is nearly 100% calcium carbonate and has a very narrow particle-size range. Originally produced for the glass industry, a sizeable amount of limestone sand is now used for annual treatments of acidic streams. There is a high concentration of limestone sand at the upper end of the stream near the limestone application site, but it soon mixes with the natural materials and becomes virtually unnoticeable. Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 293 The amount of limestone added during annual treatment is equal to the estimated annual dissolution of limestone in the stream. During the first few annual applications at each site, the treatments represent more than twice the annual dissolution to provide additional buffering capacity. In-stream limestone-sand treatment is the most cost-effective method of restoring streams impacted by acid deposition (Petty and Thorne 2005). Natural stream processes regulate the distribution of dissolved limestone in stream sediments. Research has shown limestone constitutes only about nine percent of the streambed load of the sand-sized particles (Zurbuch et al. 1996). As the limestone particles move downstream they become smaller and eventually completely dissolve. Less than one percent of the sand deposited near the mouth of a treated stream is expected to be limestone (Clayton et al. 1998). Research has also shown (Baker and Schofield 1982) that acid deposition releases into the stream free aluminum ions that are highly toxic to fish. Dissolving calcium carbonate releases calcium ions that attach to the gill receptors of the fish and block entry of the aluminum ions (Clayton et al. 1998). A ratio of about 10:1 of calcium to aluminum ions is needed to protect the trout and other species in the stream from aluminum toxicity (Clayton et al. 1998). The concentrations of free hydrogen ions to free aluminum ions in acid deposition-affected water are closely correlated (Baker and Schofield 1982), which makes water analysis much easier because both free calcium and free hydrogen ion concentrations can be obtained from field measurements. The hydrogen ion concentration is simply obtained by converting a pH to its hydrogen ion equivalent. In some past surveys of acid water, Brook Trout were found successfully reproducing in low pH streams where they would not normally be expected. This unexpected finding may have been because there was enough calcium in the water to protect them from the dissolved aluminum present. I recommend that all standard water analyses in acid deposition-affected water include measurement of dissolved calcium so that the calcium: hydrogen (aluminum) ionic ratio can be calculated. Acknowledgments The studies referred to in this paper are the result of over 40 years of efforts by many individuals in the Wildlife Resources Division of the WVDNR. Those to whom I would like to give special mention are: Harvey Beall and Jim Woodrum (both deceased); Ray Menendez, Don Phares, Bruce Evans, and Lucille Licwov (all retired); and Janet Clayton, who is still conducting research at the Elkins Operations Center. Others who have helped in the review of this paper, and who continue to try to protect and improve West Virginia trout fisheries include: Dave Thorne, Steve Brown, Dan Cincotta, Tom Oldham, Isaac Gibson, and Mike Shingleton. Personally, I would like to thank all of these individuals, and the many others, who made my career with the WVDNR so enjoyable and fulfilling. Upon his retirement, Ray Menendez told me “It’s been one heck of a trip”, and that pretty well sums it up. The editors of this Special Issue wish to acknowledge Dave Thorne and Dan Cincotta for their editing and final review of this paper . Southeastern Naturalist P.E. Zurbuch 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 294 Literature Cited Allman, R.C. 1976. Canaan Valley and the Black Bear. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 120 pp. Baker, J.P., and C.L. Schofield. 1982. Aluminum toxicity to fish in acidic water. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 18:289–309. Brooks, M. 1965. The Appalachians. Seneca Books, Inc., Morgantown, WV. 346 pp. Brown, S.E., Jr. 1959. Annals of Blackwater and the land of Canaan 1746–1880). Chesapeake Book Company (Virginia Book Company 1966), Berryville, VA. 42 pp. Carpenter, L.V., and L.K. Herdon. 1929. Report on pollution survey of Cheat River basin. West Virginia State Water Commission. Charleston, WV. 46 pp. Clarkson, R.B. 1964. Tumult on the mountains: Lumbering in West Virginia 1770–1920. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 410 pp. Clayton, J.L., and R. Menendez. 1996. Macroinvertebrate responses to mitigative liming of Dogway Fork, West Virginia. Restoration Ecology. 4(3):234–246. Clayton, J., R. Menendez, P.E. Zurbuch, E.S. Dannaway, H.W. Rauch, J.J. Renton, and S.M. Sherlock. 1998. Instream application of fine-grained limestone to restore fisheries in streams impacted by acid deposition. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 18:347–360. Eschner, A.R., and J. Larmoyeux. 1963. Logging and trout: Four experimental forest practices and their effect on water quality. The Progressive Fish Culturist 25(2):59–67. Fanser, H.F. 1962. History of Tucker County, West Virginia. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 702 pp. Fortney, R.H. 1975. The vegetation of Canaan Valley, West Virginia: A taxonomic and ecological study. Ph.D. Dissertation. West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. 209 pp. Guthrie, K. 1998. Logging in Canaan: The triumphs and tragedy of a Tucker County timber baron. The Log Train. 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