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$2M in Lake Michigan projects for Fish Habitat viewed as job growth

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Christopher Meyers, Director of Planning for City of Gary, (left) and Joel Baldwin, project manager with Hitchcock Design Group, talk about the dredging work at the Marquette Lagoon that will soon begin following a press conference at Marquette Park in the Miller section of Gary, Ind. Friday October 7, 2011. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media

At a glance

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative action plan, developed by the EPA with 15 other federal agencies in 2010, calls for aggressive efforts to address five priorities:

Clean up toxics and areas of concern

Combat invasive species

Promote near-shore health by protecting watersheds from polluted run-off

Restore wetlands and other habitats

Track progress, education and work with strategic partners

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GARY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Friday announced a $1 million grant from its Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to the Regional Development Authority for a job-creating dredging project of the Marquette Park lagoon.

The EPA also awarded $994,350 to the U.S. Geological Survey to expand fish and bird monitoring along the Great Lakes’ beaches to fight botulism and other contaminants damaging wildlife. About 20 percent of that money, and 20 jobs, will come to Gary next year.

Just a few yards away from the Lake Michigan’s southern shore, in a serene part of the massive park, dignitaries gathered beneath shade trees to hear of the awards and what they will mean for the area.

Meanwhile, workers with heavy machinery continued the $28 million, RDA-funded facelift of the park nearby, including the popular Marquette Park Pavilion.

The grant to the RDA will go toward dredging the lagoon and using the soil to firm up the lagoon’s shoreline, said Cameron Davis, EPA senior adviser on the Great Lakes. Erosion and other natural forces have pounded the lagoon.

“It’s an area of concern that needs most of our help,” Davis said, adding the project will improve fish and wildlife habitats around the lagoon.

To get the money the RDA and its contractor, Ohio-based Los Alamos Technical Associates, had to agree to hire up to 20 unemployed residents to do the work. The work will include dredging soil from the bottom of the lagoon to expand the fish habitat and relocating that soil to the shoreline and other areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey also had to agree to hire 20 local employees to land its share of the federal money. The work will include collecting different animal species, including carcasses, to determine if botulism was the cause of the deaths.

“This $1 million is our tax dollars being put to good use,” said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville. “This is an example of how our tax money can be wisely spent and put to use to put citizens to work.”

Christopher Meyers, Gary’s planning director, said the city would work closely with Los Alamos to ensure the company hires locally.

“There is the great environmental benefit, but, ultimately, it’s about creating jobs and helping the local economy,” Meyers said.Michael Gonzalez

Fish and wildlife habitat in White Lake

So far, ‘Restoring Our Lake’ columns have described the Great Lakes Area of Concern cleanup program, how White Lake came to be designated an Area of Concern Continue reading “Fish and wildlife habitat in White Lake”

HABITAT WORK WILL IMPROVE TROUT FISHING ON SAN JUAN RIVER


NAVAJO DAM – A $300,000 fish habitat improvement project is scheduled to begin Oct. 10 on the trophy trout waters of the San Juan River below Navajo Dam.

The project is designed to enhance fishing opportunities in two ways: by reducing silt deposits from flash-flood events, and by creating deeper pools for fish during periods of low flow from Navajo Dam. The estimated completion date is Jan. 8.

“We’re excited that we can respond to anglers’ requests and move forward with this project that will make the world-class fishing on the San Juan River even better,” said Jim McClintic, chairman of the State Game Commission.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

The project contractor, AUI Inc. of Albuquerque, was expected to be on site Oct. 10. The project will include:

  • Sediment removal and control at the mouth of Rex Smith Wash, an arroyo that empties into the Kiddie Hole, a fishing spot just above popular Texas Hole. Flash-flood events carry silt into the river at that point, damaging trout habitat there and downstream. The project will include building a sediment retention pond that will slow the water flow during floods, catch sediment and redirect clean water back into the river. Silt in the retention pond will be removed periodically.
  • Habitat improvement work in “The Braids,” a section of the river above Texas Hole and the Kiddie Hole where water levels drop to very low levels during times of low flow from the dam. It will include digging holes in the sandstone riverbed to create deeper pools for trout. Structure such as large cottonwood trunks, big rocks and faux beaver dams will be strategically placed to redirect flows into the new pools.

Mike Sloane, chief of fisheries for the Department of Game and Fish, said anglers should not be inconvenienced at the Kiddie Hole during the project except for some noise and truck traffic. Work in “The Braids,” however, will require the area to be closed to fishing for about 30 days in November and early December.

State funding will pay for most of the project, with some additional federal funds. The project was approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which controls the river operations; the State Parks Division, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

PUBLIC MEETINGS WILL ADDRESS PIKE IN EAGLE NEST LAKE

EAGLE NEST – The Department of Game and Fish will conduct meetings this month to inform the public and gather input about a proposal to change fishing rules at Eagle Nest Lake to address a threat to the lake’s trout fishery by the illegal introduction of northern pike.

The pikes’ presence in the lake was discovered in November 2010 when a 13-year-old angler from Espanola reported catching one there. Since then, many more have been caught in the lake by anglers and Department staff. Some of the pike have grown to 30 inches or more, said Eric Frey, fisheries biologist for the Northeast Area.

Northern pike feed primarily on large quantities of fish such as rainbow trout fingerlings and kokanee salmon fry. The Department stocks about 600,000 fingerling rainbow trout and about 200,000 kokanee salmon fry in the lake annually to maintain the lake as one of the state’s top coldwater fisheries. Predatory northern pike present a significant threat to that fishery, Frey said.

To help manage the pike population in the lake, the Department is recommending changing the daily bag limit to allow unlimited take and possession of northern pike, and to require Eagle Nest Lake anglers to keep all northern pike they catch.

The meetings:

  • Oct. 11, 5 to 6 p.m.: Eagle Nest Lake State Park visitors center, No. 42 Marina Way, Eagle Nest.
  • Oct. 12, 5 to 6 p.m.: Department of Game and Fish Northeast Area office, 215 York Canyon Road, Raton.

More information about the proposal can be found on the Department website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us under “Proposals for Public Comment,” or by contacting Eric Frey at (575) 445-2311 or eric.frey@state.nm.us.

Fish Habitat Restoration along Walnut Creek in Erie, PA

 
Northeast Region, September 30, 2011
Log vanes along left bank to reduce bank erosion and promote substrate deposition along Walnut Creek.

Log vanes along left bank to reduce bank erosion and promote substrate deposition along Walnut Creek. – Photo Credit: Raymond Li, USFWS

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

The Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office partnered with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to restore 700 linear feet of stream channel along Walnut Creek, a tributary to Lake Erie. The project site is located within Cassidy Park, parkland owned and maintained by Millcreek Township, PA. Walnut Creek is an urban watershed characterized by increased stormwater runoff and channel erosion; both has degraded the stream to bedrock and eliminated substrate important to maintain stream habitat function.

Eleven log vanes were installed to decrease bank erosion, promote substrate deposition, and reduce width:depth ratios to restore coldwater stream habitat for native and recreational fisheries. Other project partners were Millcreek Township and the Pennsylvania Steelhead Association; project funding was provided by the Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership.

Peoria Lake aims to create fish habitat

Island construction in middle of Illinois River

PEORIA, Ill. — Construction of an island in the middle of the Illinois River and Lake Peoria has started as part of a project the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes will recreate deep underwater habitats for fish. Continue reading “Peoria Lake aims to create fish habitat”

Ranch improves fishing opportunities and Brush Creek

A finger in the water
Adam’s Rib Ranch has taken an active hand in water quality with Brush Creek enhancements
Adam's Rib Ranch General Manager Joe Cranston and Adam's Rib Golf Course Superintendent Brynly Marsh throw fish food pellets into an area of Brush Creek that was enhanced for trout habitat. A feeding frenzy ensued that could be seen all the way  around the bend.
See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Adam’s Rib Ranch General Manager Joe Cranston and Adam’s Rib Golf Course Superintendent Brynly Marsh throw fish food pellets into an area of Brush Creek that was enhanced for trout habitat. A feeding frenzy ensued that could be seen all the way around the bend.
Adam's Rib Ranch General Manager Joe Cranston and Adam's Rib Golf Course Superintendent Brynly Marsh stand by one of the 66 structures they made in Brush Creek to improve trout habitat.

Adam’s Rib Ranch General Manager Joe Cranston and Adam’s Rib Golf Course Superintendent Brynly Marsh stand by one of the 66 structures they made in Brush Creek to improve trout habitat.
Derek Franz / dfranz@eaglevalleyenterprise.com

Wekepeke Brook Meeting held on fish habitat study results

CLINTON — On Monday, Aug. 29, a meeting was held at The Clinton Home, which brought together local and state officials and others to discuss the results of a fish habitat study conducted on portions of Wekepeke Brook and the former Clinton Water Works in Sterling. The meeting was hosted by Northeast Geoscience Inc of Clinton at the request of Nestlé Waters North America Inc. (NWNA).
The presentation was given by Dr. Piotr Parasiewicz, from the Rushing Rivers Institute in Amherst, the organization that conducted the study.A public meeting will be held on Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Chocksett Middle School Auditorium, 40 Boutelle Road, Sterling. Continue reading “Wekepeke Brook Meeting held on fish habitat study results”

Derelict boats burying prime fish habitat.

 Derelict boats that are along the White Salmon River, as well as other garbage, could get stuck at the mouth of the Columbia River, muddying up and burying prime fish habitat.

Those abandoned boats simply <i>have</i> to go

»PLAY VIDEO

COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE – The White Salmon River is in for somewhat of an overhaul.

When the Condit Dam is dismantled, Continue reading “Derelict boats burying prime fish habitat.”

Arizona fish habitat video for Apache lake

See what work is being done on a large scale in Arizona in the name of fish habitat.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Bulding Fish Habitat

Stream restoration hurts fish more than grazing

Some ranchers in eastern Oregon are crying foul over a stream restoration project they believe has caused more harm to threatened fish than cattle grazing. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

“To see the devastation that occurred in the name of fish habitat is just mind-boggling,” Curtis Martin, incoming president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said.

Ranchers who rely on numerous allotments in the Malheur National Forest for cattle grazing must comply with strict standards to prevent damage to stream banks and fish habitat.

Grazing in the national forest is the subject of litigation by environmental groups, and the practice has long been contentious along Camp Creek, part of the John Day River watershed where the restoration work is taking place.

Ken Holliday, a rancher in the area, said the U.S. Forest Service restoration project has involved heavy machinery tearing out vegetation and moving logs along more than 6 miles of stream.

Compared to such activity, grazing is much less disturbing to the habitat of steelhead and salmon that are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, Holliday said.

“The double standard between logging, grazing and what they can do is off the chart,” he said. “You can run cows forever and not do what they did.”

Apart from restrictions on grazing cattle in the national forest, regulations often prevent ranchers from conducting similar activities involving heavy equipment within streams on their private land, Holliday said.

“Does anybody see the irony here?” he said.

Martin said ranchers aren’t trying to be abusive of the Forest Service, but the level of disruption to Camp Creek seems bizarre in light of the concerns about impacts to fish from stream bank alteration.

The group plans to file a Freedom of Information Act request to determine what standards the Forest Service had to meet and what environmental analysis the project had undergone, he said.

“We’re trying to get a level playing field where everybody plays by the same rules,” Martin said.

John Gubel, a Forest Service district ranger overseeing the project, said he could see why the project would raise the ire of ranchers.

“I understand their concern because the pressure is on them to meet these standards,” he said.

However, the restoration work is necessary for two reasons, said Gubel.

First of all, Camp Creek and its tributaries contained several elevated culverts that were barriers to fish passage, he said. Those were replaced with “bottomless arches” that allow unimpeded migration.

Secondly, the agency sought to correct previous restoration work that was overseen by Forest Service managers in the 1980s and 1990s, he said. At that time, logs were placed across the stream to create pools for fish.

As the Forest Service monitored the effects of this project, it turned out the “log weirs” had inadvertently led to new problems in the creek, Gubel said.

“They were put in to create pools, but instead they made the stream shallower and wider,” thereby increasing temperatures to the detriment of fish, he said.

The current restoration work sought to remove, cut or reorient those logs to restore a sinuous “snakelike” movement to the creek, he said.

Heavy machinery was used from mid-July to mid-August, a time when such activity is less damaging to fish, and now the agency plans to re-vegetate the affected areas, Gubel said.

The culvert replacement cost about $345,000 and the weir alteration cost about $70,000 to $100,000, paid for with funding from the Forest Service, the Ecotrust nonprofit group and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, he said.

The project will work to boost fish populations, which would allow for continued or elevated grazing over the long term, he said.

The impacts on habitat will only be for the short term, since such activities only rarely occur within the stream, Gubel said.By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI

“The last time we messed around in the creek was 20 to 30 years ago.”

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