Fish sampling in Shenandoah National Park NPS / David Demarest. Contact David Demarest. Importance and Issues. Aquatic biota have long been recognized as an important resource in the Blue Ridge, with brook trout playing a major role in the initial establishment of Shenandoah National Park in the 1920s. The relatively pristine and high elevation streams found in Shenandoah currently support coldwater aquatic communities that are increasingly rare in Virginia and the Southeast. Because salmonids are sensitive to environmental change and are widely distributed in Shenandoah, brook trout populations are used as a measure of Shenandoah's coldwater ecosystem function.