Shenandoah Trout All or Nothing

About Us

Our farm is not unlike most farms in the Shenandoah Valley. Through the years we’ve raised cattle, poultry, and in general try a lot of things just to keep the farm going. Smith Creek runs through our farm and used to have native Brook Trout in it. By trade, I’m a chemist and I’ve been trying to track surface water chemistry here for years. I’m also a fly fisherman and concerned about the native trout here and all over the world.

The Project

About a decade ago we decided that we wanted to try to bring the trout back in our stream. We fenced off the cattle, and planted trees to help stop erosion and to bring back shade. Unfortunately, the streambank erosion that occurred won’t heal anytime soon and we’d like to try to get this fixed. It’s not cheap – and costs tens of thousands of dollars. We’ve already done a lot of it ourselves, with the help of some government money. Unfortunately, there’s a heck of a lot still to do and the government money is starting to dry up and even if we get it we need to find in-kind funds to draw it down.

The proposed project is designed to stabilize three sections of eroding bank by use of log/rock j-hooks. These “j-hooks” will serve the added benefit of significantly improving in-stream pool habitat by providing excellent cover for trout and other resident stream fishes. Approximately 200 linear feet of streambank will be restored and replanted with this project, in three Phases (50 Linear Feet, 60 Linear Feet, and 90 Linear Feet).

We’re trying to try to raise funds through an “all or nothing” funding model with three separate installments – if we get all of the first, we go to the second, and so on. If we don’t get a minimum of all of the goal for the first project, we won’t go on and all contributions will be returned to you.