PEI ALUS participant Dan MacLean (right) and Cathy Gallant, Executive Director of the Richmond Bay Watershed Association (left) stand on the bank of the Trout River (Tyne Valley) on Dhachaidh Farms, PEI. ALUS helped expand the riparian zone along the stream, and the Watershed Association helped reforest it. This ALUS project now serves as a wonderful forested wildlife corridor and an effective riparian buffer, keeping the river healthy for future generations. (Photo: Shawn Hill)
ALUS PEI participants Dan and Dori MacLean are the sixth generation of the MacLean family to run Dhachaidh Farms (Gaelic for ‘home,’ pronounced ‘DAW-hee’), in PEI’s Tyne Valley. Previously a dairy operation, Dhachaidh Farms now focuses on grain and oilseed production, with a strong focus on environmental stewardship.
The Tyne Valley is a bucolic area rich in wildlife habitat, wetlands and watercourses, including the Trout River (Tyne Valley), a stream well known for its sea-run brook trout, which passes right through Dhachaidh Farms.
“As an angler myself, I know how important it is to help protect water quality and brook trout habitat,” says Dan. “And as a farmer, I’m trying to do my bit to keep the stream as healthy as possible. That’s where ALUS comes in.”
To that end, ALUS helped the MacLeans retire steeply sloped sections of farmland from agricultural production and installed soil-conservation structures, such as permanent grassed waterways, to combat soil erosion and protect water quality in the River.
Thanks to the support they get from ALUS, the MacLeans opted to expand the existing buffer zone along their section of the Trout River well beyond the standard 15 metres.
The MacLeans then planted trees inside the buffer zone, thanks to a fruitful partnership with the Richmond Bay Watershed Association, where Dan is currently a Director—the MacLeans have supported local community-based watershed management efforts for several decades, and continue to work with the Richmond Bay Watershed Association to rejuvenate the Trout River.
Meanwhile, the MacLeans’ riverside ALUS project serves as a wonderful forested wildlife corridor and an effective riparian buffer, helping to keep the river healthy for the benefit of future generations.
Before and after shots of a ALUS project along the banks of the Trout River (Tyne Valley) at Dhachaidh Farms in Prince Edward Island. ALUS made it possible for the MacLeans to greatly expand the buffer zone along the stream, and the Richmond Bay Watershed Association helped reforest it. (Photo: Shawn Hill)
Our PEI ALUS Project Coordinator, Shawn Hill, caught (and released) this magnificent brook trout (2 lbs., 16 inches) in the Dhachaidh Farms section of the Trout River (Tyne Valley), whose waters are being kept as clean and healthy as possible by Don and Dori MacLean, with help from the PEI ALUS program and the Richmond Bay Watershed Association.
