You may have noticed a logging truck hauling unusual logs the last couple months. That was Chad Pease's logging operation helping in what will be a new course in the Konkapot River in Hartsville and the creation of a fine habitat for trout.

Your further curiosity can be assuaged next time you're headed toward Great Barrington. If you take 57, just inside Hartsville turn left at the major intersection and drive down that road about 200 yards to the Konkapot River. You'll see the construction of an unusual dam consisting of many logs from a Sandisfield hillside. The project was expected to be completed by the end of September.

Chad hauled dozens of tall pine trees, about 39 feet in length, two at a time, with the tops and limbs removed but the roots still clinging to the bottom of the tree. We hadn't seen trees like that on a logging truck before.

Chad owns logging property on the hillside above River Road in New Boston. He contracted with an environmental firm called Trout Unlimited to bulldoze tall pines, trim them, and haul the logs, roots intact, to the Hartsville construction site.

The project manager for Trout Unlimited, Zach Adams, said the project may be the first of its kind in Massachusetts. He said, "We picked up the project after a TU member in Hartsville reached out for help solving a problem with the failing bank on the Konkapot. This was about five years ago. The stream had changed course after Hurricane Irene, and a solution had not yet been found to prevent the stream from reaching the road and washing it out."

The rooted pines were used to build structures on the stream bank that will force high water velocities away from the bank. The root wads jut out into the stream which slows and redirects water flow while also providing excellent habitat for a lot of aquatic species, including trout.

Adams explained, "The main structures in the bank are called 'Engineered Log Jams.' These are made from entirely natural materials like gravel, boulders, and trees. They're designed to kick water flow away from the stream bank. Pines are used because when exposed to water they take ages to rot."

Chad also hauled a few regular looking pine logs. Adams said that the logs without roots "are used as spacers in the log jams so that each layer can sit tightly and provide the correct height. We also use them to build the new grade of the stream bank. This now looks like terraced layers to diffuse the force of highwater flows.

So instead of slicing Sandisfield timber into 2x4s and 2x10s for stick housing, Chad spent part of the summer helping change the course of a river and create an aquatic playground. He said, "It feels good to be doing this."

It's not the first time Chad has done something for the environment. In 2015, he dedicated a good-sized piece of woodlands behind his home on Sandisfield Road to create a habitat for endangered New England Cottontail rabbits. (See Laura Roger-Castro's story about that in our October 2015 issue, which you can find in the library/archives on our website at www.SandisfieldTimes.org.)

With the contract for Trout Unlimited completed, Chad and his crew are going back to their usual occupation of clearing housing sites for new homes in the Berkshire woods.