Published: June 13, 2009 10:31 pm      

Volunteers are sought to install habitat structures

The Cambria Somerset Authority, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Somerset and Cambria conservation districts and various other state and national partners have done their part to improve fishing on local reservoirs.

Now, it’s time for the public to chip in.

The latest addition to improvements at the Quemahoning, Wilmore and Hinckston Run reservoirs will take place this week, when

100 habitat structures will be weighted with concrete blocks, enhanced with evergreen boughs and sunk in each lake by fish commission personnel and, ideally, a good turnout of local volunteers.

“We would like them to come and take over for the partners,” said Tom Kakabar, operations manager of CSA. “The blocks have been delivered, the crates have been moved, the evergreens have been cut. We would like to sit back and let the public do the final installation. We have 2,700 concrete blocks to move in three days. We don’t have to move them far, but they have to be moved – by hand.”

The crates – properly known as short vertical plank structures – arrived months ago and were stored at Quemahoning. Now, they have been distributed to the reservoirs where they are to be used, and volunteers have been asked to report to the respective boat launches on the lakes at

8 a.m. each of three days to help with the final touches, then load them on specially equipped boats to be transported to their final resting spots. In addition to the satisfaction of giving something back to the fishery, those who participate will have the advantage of knowing exactly where each structure is placed.

Boat launches will be closed on the days the work is scheduled, Kakabar said.

The work will be done on Tuesday at Quemahoning, Wednesday at Wilmore and Thursday at Hinckston Run. Fish commission President Len Lichvar said it is just part of an ongoing and much larger plan to enhance fisheries habitat at the three reservoirs.

“Felling trees for shoreline structure enhancement, installing porcupine cribs to protect young-of-the-year fish and some rock-rubble placement – that’s been the first two years’ worth of work,” Lichvar said. “Then, there are going to be large-scale habitat projects over the next two years after that, which will increase the project scope.”

The whole plan is an expensive undertaking only made possible, Kakabar said, through cooperation among a number of partners.

“There certainly are a lot of (fishing) license dollars going into this project,” he said. “It’s not cheap. The public should be very happy with the state Fish and Boat Commission’s efforts. There were individuals within the commission that greatly helped CSA obtain those funds. And, the National Fish and Wildlife Federation was one of the grant sponsors for this. CSA is quite proud of that grant since it was a national grant we competed for against all 50 states.”

Lichvar said the respective county commissioners and the state’s Growing Greener program also deserve credit for providing the funding necessary to expand the habitat project.

“Most of the effort we put in locally is volunteer effort,” he said. “With the economic constraints that we have, we’re very fortunate to be in a position where we’re working on a project that is well funded, which is an exception. That is because of intensive planning, public support and grant requests to the right places. Now, when everybody else is scrambling for money, we are well-funded rather than under-funded.”

That secure funding will allow the partnership to provide much more habitat for fish than originally expected, Lichvar said.

“The project scope will increase because of the additional funding,” he said. “It started out small, and has expanded beyond the original plan to improve the recreational opportunities in all three reservoirs.”

Many of the structures – including the crates to be installed this week – are designed specifically to benefit bass, but also help panfish and, in some instances, forage species. Fish commission personnel surveyed the Quemahoning Reservoir last week to provide baseline information to determine how much benefit is being realized from the improvements.

Kakabar said he expects the project to yield positive results and the cooperative effort to pay future dividends.

“This partnership that’s being nurtured is really going to blossom in future years,” he said.