New fish-friendly bridge for visitors to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park
In a classic win-win situation, a recent collaborative project is improving access for native fish and for nature-loving visitors to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.
A newly installed 35-foot bridge across Cedar Run opens up 3.5 miles of stream habitat for brook trout, American eel and other native species while also improving access to some of Shenandoah’s most beloved trails. The bridge replaces an undersized concrete crossing that had blocked fish passage for decades and often became clogged during high water flows, resulting in erosion and flooding. The new bridge also provides better emergency vehicle access.
“This bridge is outside of the park on private land but it provides access to Whiteoak Canyon Trail, one of the most popular trails in the park, where visitors can hike to some gorgeous waterfalls,” says Sally Hurlbert, public affairs officer at Shenandoah National Park.
See the beauty for yourself in this National Park Service video below.
Cedar Run is a tributary of Robinson River. The Robinson flows for 34 miles from its headwaters in Shenandoah National Park to its confluence with the Rapidan River and is popular for whitewater paddling. The new crossing is part of a larger effort to reconnect stream habitat for brook trout and improve water quality for other at-risk aquatic species across the region.
“This project may be critical to the survival of brook trout in the Robinson looking forward, considering a warming climate in the southern extent of the species’ range,” says Albert Spells, project leader for the Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (VFWCO). “Though there is still more work to do to improve Robinson River below the site, this project allows brook trout to access ‘refugia waters’ in the park.”
The project is a public-private partnership between The Piedmont Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited, Shenandoah National Park and the local landowners, the Graves family, with funding support through grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Orvis, Nimick Forbesway Foundation and Ohrstrom Foundation.
“Partnerships make incredible projects like this possible,” says Lisa Moss, a fish biologist with VFWCO.
Moss has introduced this project and others like it to youth through outreach events for National Fishing and Boating Week and Junior Ranger Day programs at national wildlife refuges. She uses a diorama of a culvert (see photo) that she created as part of a larger exhibit with live fish to help educate people about the importance of this work.
“We’re trying to help kids understand how their everyday experiences — such as traveling the road to school or walking a trail over a creek at a favorite park — impacts fish and wildlife,” she explains.
Moss sees her involvement with fishing events on wildlife refuges in the James and Rappahannock River watersheds as a valuable opportunity to interact with local communities and convey the importance of reconnecting streams for fish passage and protection of habitat.
The partners on this project opened the new bridge and trail access with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in November 2019.
