The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is going to extend by a year its long-term study of the health of the trout population in one of the state’s most famous fishing rivers.
Biologists say the trout population in the Batten Kill in southwestern Vermont appears to show a sharp decrease this year, but the summer’s unusual weather patterns could have played a part.
Fisheries biologist Ken Cox tells the Rutland Herald 2009 was one of those sampling years you wish never happened.
The study had been scheduled to end next year. Now it will run through 2011.
The state has been working with a number of private groups to restore trout habitat on the Batten Kill as a way to revive what has been a declining trout population.