Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited - September Newsletter

Weddings are keeping me very busy. My daughter was married in Colorado at the end of July. Great planning as the Grasshopper hatch was in full swing. My son is coming up in only a few days. Newport, RI, I tried unsuccessfully to get this in the Farmington River area.

Fall is here. The Cape is becoming a nice place to be and driving on Rt 28 is no longer stop and go.

CMTU is starting the Fall season

As usual, our first meeting of the Fall falls on a Holiday. So there continues to be no September meeting. We are still watching the Covid and anticipate this impacting a few more meetings.

However, with regards to opportunities, the CMTU team has a campsite (not a cabin) from Sept 24 thru Oct 4. The first few days are in a standard tent site, the last week is in a unique campsite that has an open structure (like a storage shed with an open face). There is limited capacity, so send me what you may be interested in and I will start putting a calendar together.

There are a few couple items of interest for our group. Dam removal and stocking of the Wayside Inn's Josephine's Pond.

MEPA File 16390 - Dam Removal on the Quinie

Early this year, there was a Webinar on the dam removal plan for the state. The Quinie dam is on the list and has a target date of 2024. We sent in a letter of support, contacted the council - who did similar and the ball is rolling.

In addition, our team sent in an application for the 2021 MA/RI Grant money. There is a total of $7500, with a max award of $2500 per award. We submitted an application for $2500 to support the Quinie dam removal with potential projects like - Silt Gardens, High School opportunities for testing/light lifting/etc. We should know in a month or 2.

The Wayside Inn stocking is continuing to stock the pond. There was a stocking in the Spring and there will be another this Fall (Already funded). What is very interesting about this budding relationship with the Wayside Inn is their support of community outreach. What could be very interesting is to combine the Dam removal with our Wayside Inn connection to hold some sort of event at the Wayside Inn to support this conservation event. Great venue smack dab in the area of influential people. Could lead to more/similar events. FYI - The funding for the stocking comes from "Go Fund Me".

Keep fishing - the Fall season is here!

Peter Sterndale
 

President, Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited

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