Scouten Brook is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of Mehoopany Creek in

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Wyoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,069. Its county seat is Tunkhannock. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. W ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Forkston Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and has wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. It is one of five large brooks to cut through South Mountain.

Course

Scouten Brook begins on South Mountain in Forkston Township. It flows north-northwest for several tenths of a mile before entering a valley and turning northwest for about a mile. The stream then receives an unnamed tributary from the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

and turns west-northwest for several tenths of a mile. It then turns west for several tenths of a mile, leaving its valley, crossing Windy Valley Road, and reaching its confluence with Mehoopany Creek. Scouten Brook joins Mehoopany Creek upstream of its mouth.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Scouten Brook is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The elevation near the stream's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is above sea level. Scouten Brook is one of five large brooks to divide a large, flat-topped mountain along Mehoopany Creek. This mountain is known as South Mountain and Scouten Brook is the furthest downstream of the five streams. Forkston Mountain is also situated near the stream. In the late 1800s, coal smut was reported at a tract at the headwaters of Scouten Brook.

Watershed and biology

The

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of Scouten Brook has an area of . The mouth of the stream is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Dutch Mountain. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Noxen. The mouth of the stream is located at Kasson Brook and is south of Forkston. Wild

naturally reproduce in Scouten Brook from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. The stream is classified as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery.

History

Scouten Brook was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1199963. Since 2000, a streambank stabilization project has been done on Scouten Brook.

References

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External links