Region IV Fisheries, Partners Work to Help Imperiled Fish
The TWRA partnered with the USFWS Partners Program’s Tennessee Ecological Services Field Office, Fish Passage Program, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP), and the Campbell County Highway Department to complete two culvert replacements on Coontail Branch.
These projects help restore aquatic habitat connectivity for the federally threatened blackside dace and state listed In Need of Management Cumberland arrow darter. Both structures were rated as severe barriers utilizing SARP’s Barrier Assessment Tool and were replaced with bottomless box bridges, which allow the stream bottom to have natural substrate in it. These bridges also benefit the county, creating stable crossing structures more resilient to flood effects.
The Campbell County Highway Department presented TWRA and USFWS with a plaque thanking each Agency for their joint effort in culvert replacements of Baker Lane and Brahma Lane.
