Batten Kill will stay wild

ARLINGTON, Vt. --There will be no stocked rainbow trout in the Batten Kill.

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche said the department would bow to public opinion and abandoned a plan to stock sterile rainbow trout into the famed trout stream in southern Vermont.

Trout Unlimited and the CEO of The Orvis Company, which makes fly fishing equipment, held a news conference last week to protest the plan. The state held a public meeting last week to gauge public opinion.

"The public at that meeting was I'd say four to one against stocking rainbows on that stream," Laroche said. "We're absolutely going to listen to that. We also have some time here to allow written comment. We'll take it all into account. But right now, in terms of that meeting the public spoke pretty clearly that they didn't want the rainbow trout stocked, so we heard them."

The stocking plan that had been considered by the state would have allowed anglers to keep the rainbow trout they caught. Current regulations prohibit keeping any brook or brown trout they catch in the Batten Kill.

In recent years the number of trout in the Batten Kill declined drastically. Many believe that was due to a loss of stream-side cover the fish need.

Some residents said they doubted restoration would work as long as there is heavy summer traffic on the river from tubers and paddlers, who remove obstacles from the river that protect trout.

"We're putting millions of dollars in the river to replace woody debris that these folks have removed," said Tom Williams of Arlington.

The state expects to issue a final draft management plan for the Batten Kill some time this spring.

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Information from: WVPR-FM, http://www.vpr.net