Little Juniata River Association -a 501 c3 non-profit organization
Our mission is to: “Monitor, Preserve and Improve the Little Juniata River and its tributaries as cold water resources”.
Polluting junk yard cleaned up
This site on the banks of the upper “J” was covered with junk from an auto salvage operation. LJRA worked with the legitimate landowner, First Energy, to get it cleared. We give our thanks to First Energy/Penelec for finally getting this done! This should greatly reduce the washing of tires and other auto-associated trash into the J during high water events.
November Meeting
The November meeting will be held on Thursday Nov 10th at 7PM at the Edgewater Inn. Come early or stay afterwards for dinner and drinks with your fellow members. Progress on and amendment of our future goals will be discussed. Our guest speaker will be Matt Shank of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Matt will present recent research on invasive species in the waters of Pennsylvania. Our streams are threatened with Didymo, mud snails, hydrilla, rusty crayfish and others.
Freeing a vital source of cold spring water for the upper J!
This spring was diverted as a source of water for the Tyrone paper mill since 1935. In August 2016, American Eagle Paper Co agreed to free it at its source, located 2 miles upstream from their pump house in Tyrone. Director Carl Reed and Bill Anderson visited the spring and walked its path to the river. It is now providing much needed 50 degree cold water for an additional 2 miles of the upper J! Kudos to American Eagle Paper Co.
October Board Meeting
The LJRA Board of directors held their bi-annual board meeting in October to review goals, our progress and resetting new goals going forward.
September Meeting
The LJRA met Thursday, September 8th at the Edgewater Inn. Mike Grim, President/CEO of American Eagle Paper Co. Tyrone, was our guest. The paper mill is the largest consumer of spring water in the watershed. Mike discussed the technological advances at AE that has led to a ~440% reduction in water usage, including eliminating the need to spray heated water into the Bald Eagle. This, and other initiatives (see above) have made the paper mill more environmentally friendly.
August Meeting
LJRA will meet August 11th at the Edgewater Inn at 7 pm. Come early and enjoy dinner (from the menu) with some of our leadership team or stay after for conversations and tale telling over a beer. Members and friends on our email list will soon receive a notice of the agenda which will include an update on achievement of LJRA 2016-2017 goals.
Fly of month- Bass flies
With the extremely low water conditions and a non-stop heat wave in place (we have 7 more days of temps in the high 80s to mid 90s coming!), it is appropriate that the fly of the month be something used to catch bass. I recently went back to fishing for bass and its good way to get your fly fishing fix while protecting the resource. The Upper Juanita and Raystown branch are great places to start and fishing can be done with a 6wt. No need to tie many exotic flies or buy new materials. Heavily hackled wollybuggers and other streamers are quite effective. Give it a shot and give our trout a rest! Visit the fly of the month page for a materials list. If you have a favorite bass fly please consider submitting the pattern for publication on the site!
The end of June through August is a tough time for our trout. Water levels are incredibly low and the temperature on the upper J exceeded 83 degrees yesterday! (July 14) upstream of Tyrone. It’s going to at or near 90s for the next 6 days. This is upstream of the springs but this water mixes with the springs and warms the water throughout the river. Regular updates on water temperatures and conditions are important for the trout as well as your fellow anglers deciding whether or not to travel to the area. Share your observations and current conditions in the forum. Better yet, leave the trout alone!
The Little Juniata River is 32 miles in length. It starts in the city limits of Altoona with the confluence of Spring Run and Kettle Creek, flows north to Tyrone, then east to the confluence near Alexandria. Of these miles,. All but a few miles,including Rothrock state forest, are privately owned. (LJRA has secured 4 miles of permanent public access on prime water by paying landowners for easements). Keeping good relations with these private landowners is a major priority for LJRA as it should be for all who wish to have access to this resource. Please respect the landowners rights ! If you see someone damaging signs or dumping trash, take down the license plate and report them immediately to law enforcement. Or report them to the LJRA leadership (we’ll take it to the Water Conservation Officer for prosecution). If you see a violation call 911 or 814 684 5922
Wild trout survey on the upper river yields encouraging results
We are pleased that Kris Kuhn, Fisheries Manager for the south central district, and his PFBC crew electroshock surveyed two 300 meter stretches of the upper J between Bellwood and Tyrone (upstream from the DHALO) on June 10th. Large numbers of brown trout were found at both both locations. (During the survey they captured one of our telemetry study fish -see picture below).
Observers, including LJRA officers, are hopeful that, once the results are totaled, more than a Class A population will have been found at both locations. Being declared a wild Class A fishery is a requirement for gaining high quality cold water (HQCW) Designated Use and the added protection that follows this designation by PADEP. Adding this very significant section of the upper J to HQCW designated use list is one big step forward towards meeting the LJRA goal of obtaining HQCW designation for the entire river.
These observations, together with the increasing presence of pollution intolerant mayflies and stoneflies throughout the river, are very exciting developments indeed!