As most people know, Orvis donates 5% of pre-tax profits annually to conservation efforts around the world. The 2010 conservation efforts included a matching grant to American Rivers to help remove three dams on Pennsylvania’s Yellow Breeches, thus connecting and reuniting more spawning habitat and clear runs for spawning fish. Allowing this river to flow freely once again is important, not only for its own health, but the health of the Susquehanna watershed as a whole.
The River Restoration Program has had a very successful year, working to restore the rivers of the Susquehanna Basin, including significant success in the Yellow Breeches watershed. In addition to the generous funding provided by Orvis and its customers, American Rivers has recently been awarded a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grant Program for the removal of the Rosegarden Dam on the Yellow Breeches mainstem in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The project includes the removal of a main dam, as well as two small dams on a side branch of the Breeches. The project will go to construction in Summer 2011. This will be the sixth dam removed from the mainstem of Yellow Breeches Creek. The Rosegarden Dam is currently the third dam as one moves upstream from the Breeches’ confluence with the Susquehanna River. The outcome of this project will be reconnection and restoration of approximately 5,000 feet of degraded river habitat, and a new public fishing access point to be located along the restored portion of the creek.