By Andy McGlashen • June 16, 2011
Our debut story this week looks at the most recent “Waters to Watch” list from the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, a nationwide collaboration between government agencies, grassroots groups and others to restore and improve fish habitat.
Just a few days before issuing the list, the Action Plan released a report (PDF) outlining the status of fish habitat in the nation’s rivers and estuaries.
“There hasn’t been a report done at this scale nationally,” said Ryan Roberts, communications coordinator for the Action Plan.
Nationwide, nearly 40 percent of freshwater fish species are “at risk or vulnerable to extinction,” according to the report, with habitat loss the biggest cause of past extinctions.
Twenty-seven percent of stream miles in the lower 48 are at high or very high risk of habitat degradation, and 29 percent are at moderate risk, the report says. The figures are based on risk factors like livestock grazing and agriculture, urban development, mining and dams.
The outlook for Michigan’s rivers is mixed, according to an interactive map that accompanies the report.
At its lowest resolution, the map reveals the picture you might expect: There’s a big red patch indicating very high risk in the state’s southeast corner, and as you move north the threat level decreases, ending with a purple band across the Upper Peninsula denoting very low risk.
But when you use the finest scale, the map gets more complicated. It shows some remote watersheds in the U.P. at very high risk for a range of reasons, and a handful of southeast Michigan streams are shown to be at low risk.
The report is limited in scope. To make data collection manageable, the report leaves out lakes, reservoirs and marine areas. Limited historical data led the Action Plan to also leave out a range of threats–including water withdrawals, animal feedlots, forestry and oil drilling–that are of particular interest in Michigan.
As part of its charter, the Action Plan is slated to update the report every five years. Future reports will likely cover other water bodies and additional threats, Roberts said.
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