Pictured on left: Optimist Member Beth Frieders, Kris Wright and Optimist Vice President Terri Ellis.
Kris Wright, Biologist at UW-Platteville, spoke about his experiences with trout stream ecology and stream reclamation. Kris oversees the partnership with Trout Unlimited, who work with producers to keep streams safe, and the UWP biology department students, who are doing research and monitoring of local streams. Kris noted that Rountree and other local streams are amazing fish sources but they are not seeing the diversity they would like to see. Regarding the streams, they want narrower and deeper streams, not wider and shallower, which is when streamside work needs to be done to taper banks back so the floodplain can interact and do things to help the flow. Kris also mentioned that beavers role in stream ecology is so underappreciated and a struggle. Beavers are a restoration tool but it's a battle as people look at it as beaver vs. man, not beavers working with man.
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