7 minute read
Trout Unlimited National’s Work in the Great Lakes
Advertisement
Trout Unlimited continues to increase its efforts in the Great Lakes region. The past year saw a wide range of success for TU’s Great Lakes Program across the “Protect, Reconnect, Restore and Sustain” components of our mission. The region’s staff continues to grow to meet the growing demands, with a total of nine full-time staffers now. The Great Lakes staff includes biologists, engineers, and policy experts who provide project management, grant management, engineering design, training, youth education, and monitoring to carry out TU’s conservation mission. Below are highlights of our work across the Great Lakes, as well as a short introduction to the staffers working on these projects. If you have any questions about TU’s work in the Great Lakes region, please reach out to the field team members noted below or the Great Lakes Habitat Program Manager, Nichol DeMol, at nichol.demol@tu.org. You can keep up with the team’s many efforts by following TU’s Great Lakes Program on Facebook (@GreatLakesTU) and Instagram (@troutunlimitedgreatlakes).
Rogue River
Located near the second largest metropolitan area in Michigan, the Rogue River is an extremely important trout fishery in southwestern Michigan. However, the watershed is experiencing pressures from growth and development, resulting in rising summer water temperatures and excessive sediment input. Because of this threat, TU designated the Rogue River as a Home River in 2010. Jamie Vaughan has been working with TU as the Project Manager for the Rogue River Home Rivers Initiative since 2014. One of the latest restoration projects she led was the planting of over 17,000 trees within the watershed.
Along with restoration activities, Jamie has been creating opportunities to inspire the next generation of conservation-minded anglers through outreach and education efforts. In 2021, TU’s STREAM (Science, Technology, Recreation, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Girls program, a watershed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) program for girls, will be expanded into new watersheds throughout the state. To foster the next generation of women scientists, TU, through the STREAM Girls program, aims to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields by engaging girls in hands-on science and fly fishing.
Jamie has also been assisting with West Michigan’s first Mayfly Project, which uses fly fishing as a catalyst to mentor and support children in foster care. This summer, the team is rebuilding efforts to engage foster students this and looking for volunteers to bring this amazing program to fruition. This is a great opportunity to use your skills as an angler and support children in foster care through fly fishing to have fun, build confidence, and develop a meaningful connection with the outdoors. To learn more about TU’s Rogue River Home Rivers Initiative and youth education efforts, please reach out to Jamie Vaughan at jamie.vaughan@tu.org.
Great Lakes Science
TU’s citizen science opportunities in the Great Lakes have grown with the relocation of TU’s Eastern Angler Science Coordinator, Jake Lemon. Jake transferred from Pennsylvania to Michigan in 2018 and leads the citizen science programs, which include spawning redd counts, water temperature and flow monitoring, watershed assessments using TU’s RIVERS app, and eDNA sampling. This past year TU supported our chapters and partners in enhancing their water monitoring activities with the Mayfly Sensor Station, a real-time stream monitoring technology. Developed by Stroud Water Research Center, the Mayfly Sensor Station is a low-cost, an easy-to-use water monitoring station designed to collect continuous data. Data are then uploaded to an online database via cellular signal for real-time access to current stream conditions (https://monitormywatershed.org/). This year, TU will be launching a new project involving mapping stream temperature in fine-scale using thermal cameras mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. This fine-scale mapping will enable us to find seeps, springs, and tributaries providing thermal refugia to coldwater species, enhancing our ability to prioritize site projects. If you would like to know more about TU’s community science efforts in the Great Lakes region, contact Jake Lemon at jacob.lemon@tu.org.
Northern Wisconsin
TU staff is working in Wisconsin to reconnect and protect native trout habitat in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior tributaries. Chris Collier, Project Manager in Wisconsin, has continued efforts that have resulted in a total of 115 miles reconnected since 2016. Highlighting
this reconnected habitat is the first completed project under our community flood resiliency program. This project is located on the North Branch Beaver Creek, in the middle of a state fishery area, and was completed in partnership with the Wisconsin DNR and the town of Beaver. TU was able to assist with survey, design, and monitoring because of TU’s Stream Restoration Specialist, Chad Kotke.
Chad is based in Lansing and fills the role of survey and design work. He works with project managers on dozens of projects each year to accelerate restoration in Michigan and Wisconsin. Complementing our fish passage work, TU also completed a habitat restoration and reconnection project in Wabeno, Wisconsin, by removing a remnant logging dam in the North Branch Oconto River. The dam structure created a drop in water surface and constricted the stream, preventing fish from freely moving upstream and degrading in-stream habitat.
Looking ahead to 2021, several road-stream crossing projects are planned in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, towns, and counties. We also have an in-stream restoration project designed for the Marengo River, in partnership with the Forest Service, to restore damage caused by historic floods in 2016 and 2018. If you would like to learn more about our northern Wisconsin projects, contact Chris Collier at chris.collier@tu.org. For more information on our design work, please reach out to Chad Kotke at chad.kotke@tu.org. the newest member of the Great Lakes team. She works closely with the Forest Service and is well underway in planning efforts to implement priority restoration and reconnection projects in the Ontonagon River watershed. Water quality is high, and streams provide cold water and good spawning riffles for sustained coaster brook trout, steelhead, brook trout, and brown trout reproduction. However, due to obsolete dams and impassible culverts, not all high-quality tributaries are accessible. TU and the Forest Service have partnered to establish a program to restore priority high-quality aquatic habitat and connectivity in the rivers and streams of the Ottawa National Forest. TU field staff are also working with the DNR to assess road-stream crossings across the western UP, surveying nearly 300 crossings during the 2020 field season. If you would like to know more about TU’s work in the UP, contact Heather Shaw at heather.shaw@tu.org.
Northern Michigan
Jeremy Geist is Project Manager for Northern Michigan, and Matthias Bonzo serves as Project Coordinator. Jeremy has been working for TU since 2015 and has recently hired Matthias to help coordinate efforts in Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In 2020, we completed our fourth and fifth culvert replacement projects on Bigelow Creek, one of only two coldwater tributaries of the Muskegon River. We have now reconnected over twenty miles of Bigelow Creek to the mainstem Muskegon. We will have reconnected the entire Bigelow Creek watershed with three more culvert projects for resident and migratory fish.
TU staff continued monitoring efforts in Northern Michigan trout streams, conducting water quality and fish and invertebrate surveys. Additionally, TU and partners continue to collaborate and monitor for the invasive New Zealand Mud Snail (P. antipodarum) in trout streams throughout Michigan. In 2021, Manistee River watershed efforts are planned, with staff undertaking six culvert replacement projects. This work will add to the over thirty-five miles of already reconnected habitat in the watershed. Please reach out to Jeremy Geist (jeremy.geist@tu.org) or Matthias Bonzo (matthias.bonzo@tu.org) if you would like to learn more about their efforts in Northern Michigan.
Heather Shaw holds the position of Project Manager for Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Based in Gwinn, Heather is
Great Lakes Advocacy
Taylor Ridderbusch holds the position of Great Lakes Organizer. He started in 2017 and is based in Lansing. Taylor works with the 42,000 TU members in Great Lakes states to advocate for habitat protection. This includes stopping Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes and maintaining critical conservation programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In Michigan, TU has been working as part of the state’s Water Use Advisory Council (WUAC) to implement recommendations for updating the state’s water permitting program. After a year of work, the WUAC has submitted its report to the state legislature. The report identifies data gaps within the state’s groundwater assessment tool and seeks to protect lakes, streams, and rivers from over-withdrawal while allowing other stakeholder uses. For more information on TU’s advocacy efforts in the Great Lakes region, including how you can become involved, contact Taylor Ridderbusch at taylor. ridderbusch@tu.org. A salmon takes advantage of a new fish-friendly culvert on Bigelow Creek.
