Calculation Methodology for the Brook Trout Resiliency Target of Reducing Identified Threats by 15%
This document describes the methodology used to calculate the current extent of threats to the resiliency of brook trout across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Authors
- Nick Staten
- Katie Ombalski
- Dan Goetz
Description
With the 2025 revision of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership has established a new Brook Trout Outcome that is partially focused on increasing the resilience of brook trout to changing environmental conditions. To achieve this outcome, the partnership has set a target to reduce identified threats by 15%. These threats include:
- Acid mine drainage;
- Unforested land cover;
- Sediment runoff from dirt and gravel roads;
- Fragmented habitat; and
- Development.
This document explains how the Brook Trout Workgroup identified the current extent of these threats to set a reasonable threat reduction goal. While each threat has its own numeric target, the partnership may overperform in one category to offset underperformance in another and still reach its overall threat reduction goal. Progress toward this target will only be measured from work performed within watersheds supporting healthy brook trout populations. Classifying Healthy Brook Trout Watersheds explains how these healthy watersheds are defined.