A group of Fannin County Middle School (FCMS) students completed another step in the school’s long range project to restore the habitats and streams of Mineral Springs and Weaver creeks.
Students led by Exploratory Teachers Althea Gobble and Tori Arp, with the help of Trout Unlimited volunteers, released about 50 rainbow trout fingerlings into the Toccoa River Thursday morning, May 18.
The trout had been raised in the classroom beginning in January to help expose students to the process in preparation to raise Southern Appalachian Brook Trout starting in October. These trout will be stocked in Mineral Springs and Weaver creeks.
At the same time the rainbow trout were being raised, students were working to prepare the streams for the brook trout with the help of Carl Riggs and other volunteers from the Blue Ridge chapter of Trout Unlimited. That work included water temperature studies and determining other factors to make sure the streams could support the trout.
The trout are expected to be released in January or February of 2024.
Then, during the remainder of 2024, a four- to five-year plan will be determined with the help of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Earlier in the project, students established a trail to access both streams and began research of the ecosystem. Their overriding question was, “Is our ecosystem in which we live healthy?”
Yearly research to answer that question has included stream health, forestry and health of buffers, soil health, wildlife and biodiversity.
Students determined all the areas were healthy, and that’s when the focus shifted to rehabilitation of a habitat suitable for the brook trout.