Pa.T.C.H.—an Idea

Since man has begun developing Pennsylvania, we have lost thousands of miles of fishable waters due to mining, pollution, development and other factors. Many once-fertile streams are now lacking trout and much or all of the other aquatic life necessary for a viable ecosystem.

The goal of Pa.T.C.H. would be to bring environmentalists and trout fishermen together for the common cause of reclaiming polluted Pennsylvania streams—to make them once again clean, safe aquatic habitats and to both allow and encourage the sport and sustenance of trout fishing. We want to patch the state's polluted waters.

Pa.T.C.H. knows it will cost considerable sums of money to make such a clean-up effort work—in some cases, millions of dollars per site. As payment for their work, Pa.T.C.H. will seek to obtain from the State of Pennsylvania the right for its donors—and members of the communities surrounding reclaimed waters—to maintain exclusive rights to stock and fish for trout on the reclaimed waters for a term of years to be established in consultation with the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

If you are interested in such an effort, please contact me immediately at jsd102@psualum.com or phone 814-235-6985.

To Come:
Data on Pa. Stream Pollution, including names of PA's polluted streams (http://patchpa.org/patchdata)
Map of PA's polluted streams (http://patchpa.org/patchmaps)
First Potential Clean-up Targets of Pa.T.C.H. (http://patchpa.org/patchtargets)