Saving Private Brooks 
Blue Ridge Mountain Trout Unlimited
Chapter #696
Blue Ridge, GA
2010 - March
Back the Brookie
Recently TU and other volunteer groups received a special thanks from EBTJV partners GA TU Back-the-Brookie, GA DNR and USFS . Every Trout Unlimited Chapter and Fly Fishing Club in North Georgia is supporting Back-the-Brookie this year including us! Over $12,000 has been donated to conserve, protect and restore native brook trout. The money will fund the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) intern program. Here are all the partners in this great effort:
Blue Ridge Mountain TU - Blue Ridge GA
Chattahoochee/Nantahala TU - Blairsville GA
Cohutta TU - Marietta GA
Coosa Valley TU - Rome GA
Flint River TU - Peachtree City GA
GA Foothills TU - Clarksville GA
Gold Rush TU - Dahlonega GA
Kanooka TU - Snellville GA
Oconee River TU - Athens GA
Rabun TU - Clayton GA
Tailwater TU - Buford GA
Upper Chattahoochee TU - Roswell
GA Atlanta Fly Fishing Club - Atlanta GA
Georgia Women Flyfishers - Marietta GA
North Georgia Trout Online
Blue Ridge Mtn TU, in turn, thanks the other clubs and chapters, the Georgia State TU Council and its Brookie Chair Kevin McGrath, the Georgia DNR, USFS, and our hard-working state and federal employees and interns who stand side by side with volunteers in the deep woods to get these projects accomplished.
However, while we pause to recognize a good start to 2010's effort, we know it will soon be time to roll up our sleeves and get in the woods again and execute this year's plan. Our Chapter will be spearheading the Cooper Creek work this summer. As we get closer to these events, we will publish all the work days so members who are available can lend a hand.
The Toccoa River in Blue Ridge Georgia is a beautiful crystal clear and very cold trout stream as it makes it's journey north from Lake Blue Ridge. This stream is abundant with trout and is respected by well traveled fly-fisherman and local residents alike. The water is released from the lake at 85 feet below the surface and returns to the riverbed at a cool 50 degrees that will turn your legs blue even on the warmest of days. The lush mountain flora that protects the banks from erosion as well as provides shade, blooms the most elegant shades of white and soft rose colored blossoms each spring. A leisure canoe trip down the Toccoa River during the Spring Bloom is an experience of a life time. There are many excellent stopping points with large river boulders along the trip for a delightful picnic lunch. It is very common to be entertained by a variety of wildlife
while dinning on the river. There is the frequent family of Mallard ducks with occasional visits by the more aloof Wood ducks. The Canada geese certainly provide some interesting study as they seem to enjoy posing for the camera. The abundance of trout scurrying about as they see the canoe approaching or catch a glimpse of it's shadow is always exciting. Shooting
a white capped rapid and rounding a bend to catch a new view of the river with the beautiful river birch stretching out to protect the water, one has to ask themselves, does it get anymore majestic that this? A day on the river will reconnect you with that inner peace so significant to us all. This experience is truly worth sharing with others and must be saved for future generations. One has to ask themselves, how can it be protected and what can I do to make a difference to help preserve it just the way I found it? Thanks to the foresight of some responsible representatives in our state and federal government we now have a way to personally effect the preservation of these natural recourses. Individuals or groups of private citizens can protect the land bordering our precious trout streams with a Conservation Easement. It is designed to conserve and protect land from
over-development so that the richness of the land and the river may be preserved in their natural state. Just imagine, your great grand children having the same wonderful experience canoeing the clear cold waters of the Toccoa catching rainbow trout just as you did years ago.
Saving Private Brooks is a conservation initiative with shared responsibilities between the land owner, Trout Unlimited and The Mountain Land Trust of Georgia all dedicated to saving the pure clean water of the Toccoa River and other mountain streams.
To learn more about this exciting opportunity to save our trout streams and find out how you can take part please see our dedicated web-site http://www.SavingPrivateBrooks.com. Thanks for your interest in our program and we look forward to seeing you and your family at a Trout Unlimited function.