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Pope John Students Take Restoration Field Trip to Sparta Glen Brook

As an extension of the work completed in spring 2016, Trout Unlimited has again partnered with the Wallkill River Watershed Management Group to coordinate fall planting activities at Sparta’s Glen Brook Park. The WRWMG recently coordinated a restoration work day at the Glen Brook for the students of Pope John High School in Sparta, NJ. As part of their field trip to the park, the 12th grade environmental science students participated in a rotation of different stations in which the students planted trees provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, installed tree shelters around the planted materials, installed livestakes into the banks of the brook to prevent continued erosion, studied different species of aquatic insects to learn which varieties are good indicators of clean water quality, and learned about ways that people cause water pollution and what can be done to lessen the impact to the rivers and streams of Sussex County.

Additionally, members of North Jersey Trout Unlimited led two stations during the October 14th event. They taught the students how to tie flies for trout fishing and led students through the park to observe the in-stream restoration work that Urbani Fisheries completed last spring. Overall, the day was a tremendous success with Pope John’s environmental science students having a chance to act as clean water caretakers in their home community!