For more than a century, a five-foot dam has stood across Callen Run, a High Quality Coldwater Fishery that feeds the Clarion River in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania [1]. Starting July 20, it comes out [1].
Taking the dam down reconnects the stream and reopens nearly seven miles of upstream habitat, restoring passage for native brook trout and as many as eighteen other species, from smallmouth bass to the mussel host species downstream [1]. The same project upgrades a trout nursery's water intake and a local volunteer fire department's dry hydrant [1].
There is no villain in this one - only a coalition. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is leading the removal alongside a sportsmen's club, a utility, a university, a state agency, and the group American Rivers, with work expected to finish by early August [1]. A river that has been cut in two since the early 1900s is about to run whole again [1].
