South Carolina Trout Unlimited Council Honors Don Eng

At the January 12, 2009 Saluda River TU Chapter meeting in Columbia, SC, charter member Don Eng of Columbia was recognized for lifetime achievements with the SC Trout Unlimited 2008 ‘Palmetto Trout Award’. Past Council Chair and fellow chapter charter member Malcolm Leaphart summarized Don’s many efforts for coldwater fisheries management before presenting the award. Malcolm first noted that Don had been awarded a special ‘Friends of Trout’ award from TU upon his retirement as Supervisor of the National Forests in SC for his sound natural resources management, including coldwater fisheries. In addition to watershed protection in the forests of SC, Don was instrumental in helping to fund and in actively supporting with staffing the three year macro-invertebrate study and other studies of the of the national wild and scenic Chattooga River in the 1980s. That multi-agency effort of the SC, GA, and NC Forest Services, with TU and the state fisheries agencies of the three states, gave impetus to the ‘Chattooga Coalition’ of agency and advocate groups which still meets and works together to improve the Chattooga trout fishery by sharing data and coordinating projects. The three year project also galvanized the Saluda River and Mountain Bridge (Greenville, SC) TU Chapters and the SC Council of TU, and helped to foster the formation of the Chattooga River Chapter in Clemson, SC and the Rabun Gap Chapter in Clayton, GA.

In addition to his support throughout his career with the US Forest Service, Don was one of 12 charter members along with Malcolm when the Saluda River Chapter was formed in 1982. Over the years Don served in many chapter roles, including Board of Directors member, a term as chapter President, and also as a SC TU Council chapter delegate for more than 10 years. That personal involvement from a federal resource agency leader was noteworthy as it demonstrated Don’s strong personal convictions about protecting and enhancing coldwater fisheries.

In the past decade Don continued as an active TU chapter member, serving on the Saluda Shoals Park Development Board, and as a local chapter representative in meetings with SC DNR and also with SC Electric & Gas, including the multi-year Saluda hydro relicensing process. A strong advocate for both safety concerns in the lower Saluda and fisheries, Don long championed better flows and dissolved oxygen maintenance for this unique and significant trout fishery in the midlands of SC. Don was also a Board member and a long time Freshwater Fisheries Chair for the SC Wildlife Federation and fostered networking of resource conservation groups in those roles, including SC TU Federation affiliated chapters for many years.

Don has continued in recent years with advocacy for the upstate trout waters of SC, especially the Chattooga where he worked in support of maintaining the foot traffic only access to the section of river above Highway 28. That zoning strategy which allowed boating, including commercial operations, in the lower 30 miles of river, has been successful for over 30 years since national ‘Wild and Scenic’ River status was granted in protecting the wilderness experience and trout fishery above Highway 28.