No widespread wildlife loss after Helene, TWRA says

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is working on a broad assessment of fish population recovery after Helene, with results expected before the end of the year.While there was no widespread species loss after the storm, the agency shared in an email with Six Rivers Media, the broader assessment will have more information about fish populations in waterways affected by Helene.In the last year, TWRA fisheries have been monitoring fish populations in Northeast Tennessee like brook trout, walleye and sauger."Early assessments from the Nolichucky and Pigeon Rivers have been encouraging," said TWRA Public Information Officer Matthew Cameron.TWRA also said there were no significant flood-related effects on sportfish in the Watauga, South Holston and Douglas reservoirs based on their monitoring for this year."All key biological indicators remain within the 10-year historical range," Cameron said.Biological indicators are organisms used to assess the conditions of an environment based on that environment's usual benchmark data.TWRA trap nets that were set up after the flood had "healthy numbers" of adult crappie and fish born within the year, the agency said.Most fish species spawned in the spring, aside from brook trout, which helped skirt effects the September flooding could have had on reproduction season.Brook trout typically spawn in October."Preliminary signs indicate that successful [brook trout] spawning occurred post-flood, but more definitive conclusions will be available once the full sampling season wraps up," said Cameron.Sampling will run through the end of September. From the brook trout streams sampled so far, there's been evidence of reproduction from October 2024 in all of them."If the population decreased in density [or] numbers at these locations due to the hurricane or any other reason, they are on their way to rebuilding their populations," Cameron said.The TWRA said that some wildlife death in the immediate aftermath of Helene was inevitable. Some fish were displaced, stranded in new pools of water or washed out of the waterway, but there were no reports of major fish kills or significant population declines. Stream fish populations are expected to recover quickly, they said.In terms of the Doe and Watauga rivers, the agency conducted monitoring in March at stations downstream and said it did not find negative effects on the trout fisheries.Hellbenders are another aquatic animal native to the region. It's the largest salamander in North America. American Rivers, a nonprofit organization that advocates for clean rivers, was able to monitor some of the hellbender population as part of a dam removal project.A number of hellbenders were found around the Shull's Mill dam before its removal, said Erin McCombs, the group's southeast conservation director. They were relocated to where the Ward's Mill Dam had been freshly removed."It was going to kick off multi-year monitoring to see how these hellbenders that we took to a new home. How did they do? Well, then Helene hit Sept. 27, 2024 and so that really changed our experiment," she said.Dead hellbenders were found around the streets after the flooding, and it was months before hellbenders were spotted in the waters again, she said."After the storm, nobody had seen a live hellbender yet, and that was really difficult," McCombs said.American Rivers has been able to resume the biological monitoring they've been working on with the hellbenders. That work is currently wrapping up."We're finding some hellbenders and we'll have a better grasp of those population changes in the months to come as the data gets finalized and some of that gets crunched," McCombs said.McCombs added they're hopeful the upcoming fall breeding season will be successful for the hellbender population.When it comes to wildlife that spend most of their time out of the water, the TWRA said wildlife officers saw animals moving inland and fleeing the rising riverbanks. Those animals include beavers and other small mammals, as well as snakes and birds.Bald eagles adjusted their feeding patterns, and bears climbed trees to avoid the floodwaters."Fortunately, steep terrain in the affected counties allowed animals to escape quickly," Cameron said."Had similar flooding occurred in flatter areas like West Tennessee, the wildlife impacts would likely have been far more severe."The storm did have an effect on birds like wood ducks that nest in tree cavities in riparian zones, the TWRA shared. Floodwaters damaged trees that would have been suitable for nesting, which means some birds may have relocated to find other places to nest.Lick Creek Bottoms Wildlife Management Area in Greene County has seen a drop in wood ducks compared to previous years. Wildlife managers can offset the nesting issue with artificial nesting boxes.When it comes to the bigger picture, biologists at the TWRA say it's too early to know what the long-term effects of the storm's flooding are.Surveys and samplings are still to come before the end of the year, including a September sampling of the Doe River and an early December survey of walleye and sauger.Jorgelina Manna-Rea is a Report for America corps member covering environmental issues for Six Rivers Media.