West Branch Susquehanna River mussel restoration project shows great progress

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2. West Branch Susquehanna River mussel restoration project shows great progress

A field event was recently held in Clinton County to highlight the progress made on the West Branch Susquehanna River mussel restoration project, funded in part by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake WILD grant program.

Mussel silos were pulled from the river with staff from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to measure in real-time some of the progress. In attendance were representatives from multiple state agencies - many of whom were Lock Haven alumni - and Commonwealth University-Lock Haven's biology program.

Agencies included the Clinton County Conservation District, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

In 2023, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and its partners were awarded more than $410,000 in funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for a 3-year project to reintroduce freshwater mussels to a 40-plus-mile stretch of the Susquehanna River's west branch.

The long-term goal is to establish a self-sustaining freshwater mussel footprint in the West Branch where mussels presently do not occur. The project partners are collecting gravid wild female mussels, gathering their larvae, introducing larvae to host fish, raising juvenile Lampmussels in a controlled setting, and ultimately releasing either eels infested with Elliptio larvae or the cultured juvenile Eastern and Yellow Lampmussels.

Additionally, the group learned during the field event about a stream restoration project completed this summer on the Long Spring property that was funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Growing Greener grant program.

The group then toured Lock Haven's on-campus wet lab, led by Dan Spooner, associate professor of biology, showcasing where the Eastern Elliptio/American Eel infestations were conducted in 2024 and 2025.

To cap the day, the group traveled to Williamsport to collect broodstock from the West Branch Susquehanna River with staff from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Joseph Manning Hatchery for propagation efforts in 2026.

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