SHELBURNE FALLS — An $11,850 grant from the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture’s Coldwater Stewardship Program awarded to the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute and Franklin Land Trust will support engaging the community in coldwater fisheries habitat restoration in western Massachusetts.

The project is a multi-step outreach program to engage local landowners in land management activities that enhance stream resources in the southern Deerfield River Watershed. These waters provide habitat for coldwater fish such as native brook trout that are experiencing habitat loss in the wake of droughts and flooding related to climate change, development pressures and human activity.

According to the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, which is a subsidiary of the Franklin Land Trust with offices in Shelburne Falls, this multi-step outreach program uses aquatic, forestry and riparian science to guide restoration and adaptation techniques to buffer the effects of increased precipitation and air temperatures on coldwater streams, their floodplains and surrounding forest stands.

“The awarding of this grant ... illustrates the importance for collaboration and marshalling of resources from diverse sources around the preservation, restoration, and stewardship of land and coldwater stream resources,” Bill Pastuszek, a member of the Franklin Land Trust board of directors and head of Trout Unlimited’s Land Conservancy Work Group, said in a statement.

These restoration and adaptation techniques will be available for landowners, forestry practitioners and managers in a written toolkit dubbed “Forests for Fish.” According to the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute, techniques include “wood loading” (recreating the natural process of trees falling in streams), working with professionals to recreate the natural conditions of streams and replanting native species that have been lost over time. The group will provide information and referrals to land management professionals who can help with riparian habitat restoration work to enhance biodiversity and resilience in headwater stream habitats, in accordance with state and local waterway and wetland protections and regulations.

“We are thrilled to continue many years of work and partnerships with Trout Unlimited’s local, regional and national chapters to develop the Forests for Fish Toolkit,” Massachusetts Woodlands Institute Executive Director Emily Boss said in a statement. “In a time when climate change is putting increased pressures on brook trout and many other native fish species in our region, bringing complexity to small headwater streams can help these populations better survive the impact of floods and drought, and ripple outward to benefit other animals that depend on streams.”

The grant, given by the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, represents a subaward of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Canaan Valley Institute, according to the Massachusetts Woodlands Institute. The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture’s Coldwater Stewardship Program provides small grants to support organizations in their efforts to provide education or training on coldwater conservation concepts and approaches that benefit wild brook trout.

The Massachusetts Woodlands Institute and Franklin Land Trust will work with Trout Unlimited staff to conduct outreach for the “Forests for Fish” toolkit throughout summer and fall 2024. In addition to distributing the toolkit to local landowners along coldwater streams and land management professionals, they also plan to develop a website and host workshops to showcase practical implementation of the techniques. A kiosk of interpretive materials will also be installed on one of Franklin Land Trust’s demonstration sites on the West Branch of the North River.

“These collaborative efforts represent the multi-tiered effort necessary for success in an increasingly complex and challenging conservation environment,” Pastuszek said in a statement. “Through its Land Conservancy Work Group, Trout Unlimited applauds this crossover effort between a land trust and an organization devoted to preserving brook trout habitat.”