Shawna Herleth-King, of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), inspects Rainbow Trout that were netted July 14 at the mouth of the Rosewood Beach ravine. Five fish species, including two listed by the state as “species in greatest need of conservation” were found in the Highland Park ravine system. | Photos courtesy of the Park District of Highland Park

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Updated: July 28, 2011 3:17AM

The Park District of Highland Park’s ravine restoration program continues to show signs of healthier local fish habitat as two endangered species were recently found to be hatching eggs in the city’s stream system.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.

Longnose Dace and Lake Chub baby fish — both included in the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan — were noted in the latest ravine study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers near Rosewood, Mallard and Moraine parks.

Baby White Suckers also were found this month, officials reported, and were likely hatched in the ravine streams as a result of spring migration by the adult fish.

Scientists made the series of discoveries July 14, while continuing its larger analysis of Highland Park’s lakefront parks and preserves.

Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, local improvements have included the installation of natural cobbles to create pool and riffle habitat; steel groynes at the outlet to the lake were cut lower to allow easier fish access; and sheltering overhangs were built using large stones. Native trees and plants now provide additional shaded areas while also providing soil stabilization along the stream banks.

Rebecca Grill, the Park District’s natural areas manager, explained that rising water temperatures over the years has worked to suppress fish vitality.

“The only way we could really change anything about water temperature is to provide shade to make the water cooler, or make it deeper,” she said. “We knew Rainbow Trout were hiding (in our streams), but we were really excited because they found those other species, too.”

The district’s long-range goal is to ensure Highland Park’s streams remain safe havens for fish to find shelter from the lake to hatch eggs.

“To know they can be successful here is really exciting,” Grill said. “We are hoping it also helps people understand our connection to Lake Michigan. The lake is a huge resource for northern Illinois and the nation. It’s our source of drinking water, and we should care about its health for our own health.

“And to think we can support these fish species, these living creatures at the base of our ecosystem, that’s miraculous considering how urbanized we are.”

The fish-friendly habitat restoration project also brought in volunteers from the Gary Borger Chapter of Trout Unlimited, a national conservation organization, and was designed by Northfield-based Shabica and Associates, and constructed by V3 Companies of Woodridge.

“Nobody on the federal level suspected that fish could be in these streams and have reproductive success,” Grill concluded. “We’re going to show that with a little bit of work, they can. It’s been very rewarding.”

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Chapter #1

A force as big as all outdoors:

Meals: $165  Fishing license: $30   New boat and trailer:  $52,000   ATV: $6,000

Motel: $69.95 x 5 nights   Boat registration: $60   Hunting license: $50   Gas: $75

Two weeks’ groceries: $300  GPS and walkie-talkies: $295    Gas $115

Polarized sunglasses: $90  Fish finder: $360   Boat winterization: $300

New rod and reel: $295   Flowers for my wife for letting me go fishing: $45

New rifle: $785   Cabin: $25,000  Property tax: $4,200  Hunting land : $115,000

Chain saw: $189     Trolling motor: $280    New boots and coat: $325

Taxidermy (with any luck): $450

A  dollar here .  A hundred dollars there .   It adds up to more than you might think.

America’s  34 million hunters and anglers are an  economic  powerhouse , driving  the  economy.  They’re  passionate about their pastimes and  they  spend passionately too.

Multiply individual  spending by those many millions of  people , and  you’re  talking  a major  force in our economy, through  booms as well as  recessions .  They directly  support 1.6 million jobs .  They  spend more than a billion dollars  just  on  licenses,  stamps ,  tags   and  permits, and  they generate  $25 bi l l ion a year in  federal , state and local  taxes .

By  any  measure , hunters and  anglers are among  the most  prominent  and  influential of all demographic groups. Hunters and  anglers  support  twice as  many  jobs  as  the combined  civillian  payrolls of  the Army, Marine Corps , Navy and  Ai r Force .

$208 million a day. $1.5 billion per week.  Annually hunters and anglers  spend  $9 billion to  lease and purchase land for their sports . That’s  enough  to purchase  27,000  new homes or rural  acreage larger  than  the states of  Rhode Island  and Delaware  combined.

No mortgage crunch here. Without  hunters and anglers, our economy would be a lot   smaller. $76 billion smaller, in fact. That’s how much they spend  each  year on their pass ion for the outdoors.  If a single corporation grossed as much as hunters and anglers   spend,  it would be among America’s  20  largest ,  ahead of  Target , Costco and AT&T.  Buthunters’  and  anglers ’  influence  goes   even  further.  They  create an economic “ r ipple effect “.  They keep people working: not  just   in  typical  hunting and  fishing  jobs ,  but also in ga s stations,  retail , restaurants  and hotels  throughout  every  state and  congressional  district of  the  USA.

There  are  other  numbers ,  too.  For   instance ,  Americans  spend more   time  hunting and  fishing  each  year  than days  spent running  the Federal  government   (737 mi l l ion days vs . 486 mi l l ion) . Together, hunters and anglers are a significant voting bloc. In fact, their voting potential was 31% of all votes cast in the 2004 presidential election. Eighty percent of sportsmen are “likely voters,” far more than the national average. They can change the tide of elections. And, as you might guess, they tend to favor pro-sporting candidates.

$8.6 million an hour. Spending by hunters  and anglers  is  more than the revenues of  Microsoft , Google, eBay and Yahoo—combined                                 (76 billion vs . 73.6 billion)

Higher earnings than high-tech. (34  MILLION VS . 27  MILLION ) More  people  hunt and fish  than watch the  nightly newscasts of  the three major  networks—ABC,  CBS, and  NBC.  Breaking news.  Hunting  and fishing  Americans  out  number motor- sport  fans  by more  than 2 to 1.   In  fact ,  they could  fill  every NASCAR  track 13  t imes over.

Racing ahead. If  the $76 billion that  sportsmen  spend on hunting and  fishing were the Gross Domestic Product of  a country,  sportsmen as a nation would rank 57 out of  181 countries .

On  lodging  alone,  hunters spend more than the annual  revenues of  Comfort  Inn, Comfort  Suites, Quality Inn,  EconoLodge,  Rodeway  Inn and Sleep  Inn  combined. Sleep on it.