DEC Paves Way For More Fishing

The State Department of Environmental Conservation has literally paved the road for more fishing in Felts Mills.

The DEC unveiled a new trail and parking lot for use by anglers Thursday.

The quarter-mile long path just off Country Route one 43 will give people easier access to White Creek and encourage more fishing.

The following is a news release from the DEC:

A new angler parking area and access trail to Felts Mills/White Creek in the Town of Champion, Jefferson County, has been completed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Regional Director Judy Drabicki announced today.

This project provides access to six miles of public fishing rights (PFR) on the creek and is the first in the North Country to be funded through a grant from the Habitat/Access Stamp Funding Program, which was created through legislation in 2002.

“This is a great project that will provide anglers with parking and access to a section of Felts Mills Creek which has had public fishing rights since 1994, but was difficult to get to,” Director Drabicki said. “The creek has a good population of native brook trout, receives additional stockings of trout and is consistently a good place to catch a fish on the April 1 trout season opening day each year.”

DEC region 6 Bureau of Fisheries applied for the $15,000 grant in 2007.

The project entailed the development and construction of a 100-by-100 ft. angler parking area on County Route 143 and a 1,478 foot-long raised, stoned footpath to the stream. Region 6 operations staff from the Brownville field headquarters did the development and construction work.

The right-of-way for the anglers footpath and parking area had been purchased previously, in 2002.

This project is one of two in the North Country that had applied for funding through the New York State Habitat/Access Stamp Program.

The Lewis County Soil and Water Conservation District was also selected for a $15,000 grant for a project in the Lewis County Town of Montague to restore river bank habitat along 2,800 feet of Deer River with riparian plantings, and install “j” hook vanes to create riffle/pools.

Both projects were selected for the Habitat/Access Grant funding last fall, but Deer River project isn’t yet completed.

A Habitat/Access Stamp is not required to hunt, fish or trap, nor does a person have to purchase a sporting license to buy a habitat stamp.

Habitat is the key to fish and wildlife abundance, and the Habitat Stamp provides money to help improve and conserve fish and wildlife habitat for the future as well as increase public access to public and private lands for fish and wildlife related recreation.

By law, all monies raised through purchases of the Habitat/Access Stamp must be deposited in the State’s Conservation Fund in the habitat account.

Grants are awarded periodically to fund projects that improve fish and wildlife habitat and public access for hunting, fishing, trapping and other fish
and wildlife related recreation.

Region 6, which is comprised of Jefferson, Lewis, St Lawrence, Oneida and Herkimer counties, has over 300 miles of PFR on some of the best trout streams in the state.

Access to these waters is very important these habitat stamp grants are helping toward that end.