Fish habitat improvement funds released

David Beasley, head Fisheries Biologist for Solitude Lake Management talks about the need for fish habitat for a balanced aquatic environment. Fishiding.com and Solitude Lake Management have been working closely together to help clients up and down the East coast improve water quality and fish habitat. Beasley has been a strong leader in helping lake and pond owners understand the multiple benefits of adding and improving fish habitat in their waters. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Together, working with numerous Federal and State agencies , private lake owners, lake management associations and DNR Biologists, habitat restoration and improvement is near the top of everyone’s list.

Artificial fish habitat made from PVC, never decay and only improve with time. Un-like wood, plants and natural products that decay over time and remove dissolved oxygen from the water, bio film and periphyton growth adhere to PVC, creating nature’s finest available food for fry development. This magical film excels in nutrient uptake, converting over abundant phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrients from the water brought in from run-off  fertilizer, and plant decay. This inert substrate allows algae growth all year long, providing this important “mother’s milk” of small fish development.

Check out all the products available on-line at fishiding.com or Solitude Lake Management and see why the Industry Leader’s are leading with fishiding artificial Fish habitat Products.

Professional Angler sees the benefits of GRDA programs …

Langley – Although February 2013 will mark the first time that the Bass Master Classic tournament has visited Grand Lake, that does not mean participating fishermen will be unfamiliar with the popular fishing waters. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Grand Lake is always among the most popular angler destinations in Oklahoma and the surrounding region. Its 46,500 acres of water offer plenty of locations and plenty of room for landing the big one or just passing the time and wetting a hook.

Volunteers gather for instructions from the GRDA Ecosystems Management Department during a “Rush For Brush” event held in the Spring of 2012. Local anglers – both casual and professional – have seen the benefits of this GRDA program and other fisheries enhancement efforts on Grand and Hudson lakes.

Still, in recent years, the Grand River Dam Authority Ecosystems Management Department has been very active in lake-enhancement programs designed to both protect and preserve the waters of Oklahoma’s third-largest reservoir. The department was established in 2004 and has stayed busy with efforts like aquatic plant transplant programs, new oversight efforts for fishing tournaments and the very popular “Rush For Brush” artificial fish habitat effort. In late November the department also announced the first annual “Crappie Christmas” program to collect used live Christmas trees after the holidays for use at fish habitats.

“Our ‘Rush For Brush’ program is one of the most popular things we do,” said GRDA Fisheries Coordinator Brent Davis. “We seem to get more and more volunteer interest every year and it’s been very successful.”

GRDA’s efforts at fisheries enhancement have not been lost fishing enthusiasts – even those who do it professionally. Edwin Evers (Talala, Oklahoma), who will compete in the upcoming Bassmaster Classic knows the waters of Grand Lake well and also knows what it’s like to help with the GRDA’s artificial fish habitat efforts.

“The coolest thing they do to manage these lakes is they have this Rush For Brush,” said Evers. “This where volunteers come out and build habitats with materials supplied by GRDA, then fishermen can put them where they want to in the water. It’s just another thing GRDA does to make our lakes so great.”

All that habitat does make a difference in angler success. Each year, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) releases an Oklahoma Bass Tournaments Annual Report. In the most recent report, with numbers from 2010, Grand Lake ranks third to continue “its annual showing at or near the top of our list,” states the ODWC report. In past years, GRDA’s Lake Hudson has also been a frequent visitor to the top 10 list. In other words, a standard answer to the age-old question “where are they biting?” can almost always be “Grand and Hudson.”

Meanwhile, GRDA’s efforts to help manage catches at all those tournaments are also good for the lakes, said Evers.

“The other thing I think makes a big difference in why Grand Lake is so good is how GRDA manages the summer months,” said Evers. “During those times when fish are caught deep and water temperatures are really high, they limit the amount of fish that can come in during a tournament. They go from a five fish limit to a four fish limit in June and July. Then, they take it to a three fish limit in August when it’s the absolute hottest. When you do that, there is a lot less stress on the fish.”

All those efforts help GRDA to meet not only its ecosystems management mission but they also aid the economic development mission. A good tournament reputation helps bring in more tournaments, which bring in more dollars to the lake area. Of course, the upcoming Bassmaster Classic has the reputation as the biggest and most prestigious of all.

Davis, who works closely with tournament officials on GRDA lakes, said larger, more prestigious tournaments like the Classic equal even more money spent per angler, per day.

“I am going to say $300 to $400 per day,” he said, pointing out that those numbers are just for the anglers themselves, and do not include the dollars spent by the fans who attend the events.

All those people will get to experience one of the best lakes to be found, said Evers.

“When I think of Grand, what pops in my mind is one of the premier lakes in the country,” he said. “It’s as good as it possibly gets.”

With a continued focus on good management practices, and ongoing programs that involve lake-area stakeholders, GRDA is working to keep it that way.
Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes.

Directly or indirectly, GRDA’s low-cost, reliable; electricity serves nearly 500,000 homes in Oklahoma and stretches into 75 of 77 counties in the state. At no cost to Oklahoma taxpayers, GRDA also manages 70,000 surface acres of lakes in the state, including Grand Lake, Lake Hudson and the W.R. Holway Reservoir. Today, GRDA’s 500 employees continue to produce the same “power for progress” that has benefited the state for 75-plus years.

Restoration Effort Moving Forward on 11 Projects as Part of
$3.7 Million Nyanza Natural Resource Damages Settlement

BOSTON – State and federal environmental officials announced today that 11 projects benefitting the wildlife, people and landscape of the Sudbury River Watershed will be funded by the $3.7 million settlement reached in 1998 by parties for natural resources harmed by mercury and other contaminants from the Nyanza Chemical Superfund site in Ashland, Mass.

The funds are allocated as part of the final restoration plan and environmental assessment for the Sudbury River Watershed. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

“Together, these projects will restore, replace, or acquire harmed natural resources and natural resource services,” said Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan. “Undoing the damage done to this area has been a hard-fought legal battle, but the residents will soon bear witness that the work going forward is more about restoration and less about litigation.”

The projects will restore migratory and cold water fish habitat; protect land to conserve wildlife habitat; create public access to the river in Ashland and Sudbury; create a nature preserve in Framingham and Ashland; and control invasive aquatic weeds to improve recreation and wildlife habitats and diversity.

“In terms of wildlife, public access and recreational amenities, this is welcome news for residents and everyone in the Commonwealth, but it further restores environmental habitat that is essential to wildlife and bringing vitality back to the region,” said Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell.

The Nyanza Natural Resource Damages Trustee Council – comprised of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, represented by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – worked with citizen, community and environmental groups, local and regional officials, and state and federal agencies to identify restoration project ideas. The final plan also incorporates public comments on an earlier draft.

“The Nyanza natural resource settlement will support projects with wide-ranging benefits to wildlife, including healthier wetlands for waterfowl, enhanced streams for brook trout, and restored habitat for songbirds not only in the Sudbury River watershed, but also in their Belize wintering grounds,” said Service Regional Director Wendi Weber. “In addition, several projects will improve access to the river for exploring the Service’s popular Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.”

“NOAA is delighted that these projects will have a positive impact on the important wetland and river habitat in the Sudbury River Watershed,” said NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard. “Restoring access to upstream habitat will help to improve fish populations, including river herring, American eel, and American shad.”

Restoration projects will:

• Improve wetlands and river habitat through the control of aquatic weeds in the main-stem of the Sudbury River;
• Restore coldwater fish habitat through riparian channel and stream-bank improvements;
• Assess migratory fish passage in the Concord River that will provide access to habitat in the Concord, Assabet and Sudbury rivers;
• Promote future river conservation through education and the Sudbury RiverSchools Program;
• Restore riparian grasslands in the Greenways North Field in Wayland;
• Benefit migratory songbirds through the restoration and protection of the Sudbury River habitat and their overwintering habitat in Belize;
• Transform the Stearns and Brackett reservoirs in Ashland and Framingham into a wildlife preserve that will protect and enhance ecological values and create appropriate public access and recreation;
• Conserve habitat by the acquisition of land along the Sudbury River;
• Increase public access to the Sudbury River by the addition of canoe and car-top boat access sites on Aikens Road in Southborough and by having canoes/kayaks for visitor use at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters in Sudbury; and
• Improve trails and pathways at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters in Sudbury to increase accessibility for visitors.

The trustees will use a range of administrative mechanisms to implement approved restoration projects, including competitive procurement through Requests for Responses, intergovernmental agreements, directed grants such as Cooperative Agreements, and use of existing statewide or nationwide contracts.

In 1998, the Nyanza Trustee Council recovered approximately $3 million in damages from the Nyanza chemical company as compensation for natural resources injured, destroyed, or lost by the release of hazardous substances and materials at the site. Since that time, interest earned on the settlement funds has increased the total amount of funding available for restoration activities to approximately $3.7 million.

A copy of the Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment will be available at the Ashland Public Library, 66 Front Street, Ashland, and online at:http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/sites/nrd/nrdny.htm

The Nyanza NRD Trustee Council representatives are: Rose Knox and Karen I. Pelto – MassDEP; Molly B. Sperduto – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Eric W. Hutchins – NOAA Restoration Center.

MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills, and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.

• The process of restoring coho salmon habitat may get a bit easier for local landowners willing to undertake voluntary projects along Siskiyou County streams and rivers.
• By John Bowman Yreka, CA

• 

  •  Zoom

  In 2010 the California Department of Fish and Game declared that two of the three brood years of Shasta River coho were functionally extinct, meaning there are no longer enough adults returning to the river in those years to sustain a viable population.
• The process of restoring coho salmon habitat may get a bit easier for local landowners willing to undertake voluntary projects along Siskiyou County streams and rivers with the California legislature’s passage of Assembly Bill 1961, introduced by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D–San Rafael). Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.comThe bill passed its final legislative hurdle on Aug. 27 with its approval by the California Assembly and now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. First introduced in February, AB 1961 would expedite the approval process for voluntary habitat restoration projects by implementing a 30-day approval process and eliminating many of the usual regulatory hurdles for such in-stream projects.

  “Coho salmon cannot afford to wait and neither can the communities where these restoration projects would provide much needed jobs,” said Huffman. “This bill lets us work together in a new way so that immediate actions can yield near-term results.”

  Coho salmon generally have a three year life cycle. In 2010, the California Department of Fish and Game declared that two of the three brood years of Shasta River coho were functionally extinct, meaning there are no longer enough adults returning to the river in those years to sustain a viable population.

  According to the text of the bill, “An urgency exists due to the extraordinarily small numbers of coho salmon remaining in California. In order to prevent their extinction from northern California waters, it is imperative that habitat restoration efforts be expedited and increased as soon as possible.”

  Siskiyou County landowners and Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) have cumulatively implemented millions of dollars worth of habitat restoration projects since coho were listed as threatened by both California and the federal Endangered Species Act in 1997. State and federal agencies say much more work must be done to aid the recovery of the species, though many landowners and stakeholders have complained that the permitting and regulatory processes create too many roadblocks.

  AB 1961 directs state agencies to “expedite and streamline the permitting and approval of coho salmon habitat enhancement projects, including, in particular, large woody debris restoration projects, in northern California streams.”

  The three main categories of projects eligible for the expedited process are as follows:

  • Modification of existing water crossings for the purposes of eliminating a barrier to fish passage;
  • Restoration of eroded or denuded streambanks by utilizing nonrock bioengineering practices and revegetating stream corridors with native riparian species; and
  • Wood placement that benefits naturally reproducing fish stocks by creating or enhancing fish habitat, increasing stream complexity, or both.

  The bill stipulates, “Within 30 days after the [Department of Fish and Game] receives a written request to approve a coho salmon habitat enhancement project containing the information required pursuant to subdivision (c), the director shall determine whether the coho salmon habitat enhancement project is consistent with subdivision (a). If the director determines within that 30-day period, based upon substantial evidence, that the coho salmon enhancement project is consistent with subdivision (a), no further departmental approval shall be necessary.”

  Executive director of the Scott River Water Trust Sari Sommarstrom has worked on many local habitat restoration projects and said, “Expediting state permitting was one of the few issues that everyone could agree on at the legislative hearing on coho last year. I’m glad that some cooperative progress in Sacramento was finally made, but the bill’s provisions are pretty limited. More progress from the state is still needed for those of us trying to help coho.”