The members of the RVTU board wish all our members and friends a very Happy New Year. I thought it would be a good time to look back and consider all the conservation work we accomplished in 2025.
Here is a summary of the conservation work your chapter undertook in 2025.
Musky Cleanup.
In April we participated in the annual Musconetcong Watershed Association’s River Cleanup. Numerous RVTU volunteers helped remove many bags of trash that had accumulated through the year. Parts of the Musky get hit hard with trash due to its proximity to major roadways. Your chapter volunteers help to ensure that angling in the Musky
Califon Island Park Riparian Buffer Improvement
We have been working in Califon Island Park for several years now planting trees and removing invasive plants. This year, we helped Raritan Headwaters plant over 150 additional trees in the park. These were additional to 100 trees we planted a few years earlier. We also hired the NJ Invasive Species Taskforce specialists to identify and remove the most harmful invasive plants which were choking and crowding out previously planted native plants. The work we did also improved angler stream access in the park. We will be back in 2026 with additional plantings and invasive removals.
Miquin Woods / Spruce Run Creek
This was an RVTU led initiative which we completed with cooperation of RHA and Hunderdon County Parks to improve the riparian buffer near the old Boy Scout Camp in Miquin Woods reserve. Many ash trees had died in this area and invasive plants were taking over. We cut back the invasives and planted native trees and shrubs along the stream banks. We hope this helps further improve water quality and habitat in this wild brown trout stream. Note: RVTU’s own Brian Cowden and his Troutscapes organization had recently removed a private dam further upstream – so Spruce Runs trout have been getting a lot of love lately.
Lopatcong Creek Maintenance
In early December, we returned to a riparian project on Lopatcong Creek near Phillipburg to check on the health of trees we planted several years ago, remove old tree tubes, and clean up. We were pleased to see that despite some major flood events since the plantings were completed, the trees and streambank restoration work was actually in pretty good shape. This was a section of the stream that passes though old abandoned farm fields and had been badly eroded. Trees we planted should help stabilize the stream bank and provide needed shade to moderate water temperatures.
The Lopatcong is New Jersey’s only true limestone spring creek – at least in its lower reaches. It contains a healthy population of wild browns down near Phillipsburg, and wild brook in its headwaters near Merril Creek Reservoir.
Other Conservation work
Over the course of the year, RVTU volunteers answered the call for numerous “ad hoc” conservation projects. We removed downed trees from the Ken Lockwood Gorge access road, assisted Musconetcong Watershed Assocation with tree plantings and maintenance at the site of the Beatty’s Mill dam removal, and more. We can only hazard a guess as to how much trash our volunteers pick up on their own while out on the stream. We thank all our members and volunteers for all they do to keep our streams clean and healthy.