In 2011, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) added 99 new waters to the state’s list of wild trout streams. PFBC also removed 16 waters from the list and adjusted the limits on eight others. The adjustments increased the total number of documented waterways which support naturally reproducing populations of trout to nearly 3,650.
The changes resulted from recent stream surveys undertaken as part of the PFBC’s Unassessed Waters Initiative, a collaborative effort among the agency, local colleges and universities and conservation groups to survey the Commonwealth’s nearly 45,000 remaining unassessed waterways.
Surveying unassessed waters and documenting wild trout populations are consistent with the Commission’s five-year Strategic Plan, Strategic Plan for Management of Trout Fisheries in Pennsylvania and the agency’s Resource First philosophy.
The wild trout stream designation has regulatory significance because wetlands that are located in or along the floodplain of the reach of a wild trout stream are considered “exceptional value” by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and are entitled to the highest level of protection by DEP.
source: Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission