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Hoping to lure a new generation, Iowa restocks its fishing holes

 

ISU student Dan Taylor shows off two rainbow trout he caught near the dock at Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake in Ames after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources stocked about 2,200 11- to 13-inch rainbow trout from a hatchery in Decorah, Iowa, on Friday November 19, 2011, in the north basin of the lake.
ISU student Dan Taylor shows off two rainbow trout he caught near the dock at Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake in Ames after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources stocked about 2,200 11- to 13-inch rainbow trout from a hatchery in Decorah, Iowa, on Friday November 19, 2011, in the north basin of the lake. / David Purdy/The Register

A whole stringer of folks are working to make sure Iowans can catch fish close to home.After all, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources figures, people are busy.

Gas prices are high. And if someone doesn’t get kids interested in fishing, and by extension, water quality, who will lead the push to clean up Iowa’s already troubled waterways in the coming decades?

The DNR has joined local and federal agencies and fishing clubs across the state to install new fish habitat in many lakes, some of which also are being stocked with keeper trout. Such urban fishing spots as Big Creek Lake, Easter Lake in Des Moines, Blue Heron Lake in West Des Moines and the pond at Des Moines Area Community College’s Ankeny campus are getting dredged, protected by siltation basins, or dotted with artificial reefs, for example.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in  science based, proven, fish protection.

The state also is stocking trout in lakes near cities, and hybrid bass in gravel pits.

DNR surveys show most people fish within 20 miles of their homes, if they fish at all.

“We want kids to be able to walk or ride their bikes somewhere to fish,” said state fisheries biologist Ben Dodd.

Local fisherman Dave Merical of Ankeny has worked on many of the projects. “People don’t want to drive forever to fish,” said Merical, a leader in Central Iowa Anglers, a private group helping with the work. “We want people to have a good experience close to home. Kids are the future stewards of the resource. If they don’t enjoy fishing they aren’t going to want to take care of the waters.”

Joe Larscheid, who runs the state fisheries bureau, said fishing is one way to lure Iowans outdoors.

“It’s a nationwide epidemic,” Larscheid said. “It’s the Xbox generation. Kids are comfortable sitting in front of a computer and doing Facebook.” He’s working with health officials on a program called “Take It Outside” to encourage outdoor activities.

“Our initiative is to get people outside,” Larscheid said.

“Fishing is a gateway. When people are outside, they are more engaged with the environment and they are more likely to support conservation.”

There’s some ingenuity in the new initiative. Central Iowa Anglers and other groups are helping the cash- and staff-strapped DNR by providing materials that can be placed in lakes for fish habitat, giving catfish and other species somewhere to spawn.

So discarded pallets become makeshift underwater teepees, Merical said. Plastic pipe is formed into the shape of a tree. Cedar trees growing where they don’t belong are cut down, weighted down with cinder blocks, and dumped in the lakes to shelter fish. Barrels, too.

“The cost is insignificant because we use volunteer labor to do work the DNR approved and wanted done anyway, and the materials generally are donated,” Merical said.

The Des Moines area is getting the most attention in the early going, with work at Easter Lake , Blue Heron Lake, Lake Petoka in Bondurant and Big Creek and Saylorville near Polk City.

The U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service and local soil and water conservation districts help by persuading farmers to conserve soil and carefully target chemicals they want kept out of waterways

One of the most popular parts of the program is the stocking of 10- to 12-inch rainbow trout in 16 lakes around the state.

The DNR announces when the 1,400 to 2,200 trout will be released in each spot, often drawing hundreds who hope to catch and eat the fish before anyone else does. The fish are raised at the Decorah hatchery.

It isn’t exactly shooting fish in a barrel, but the trout are very easy to catch, Larscheid said.

Usually, anglers catch all the released rainbow trout within two months, Larscheid said. It’s supposed to be easy. The idea is to get kids interested in fishing, and excite urban-dwellers about a sport that has produced flat license sales of about 300,000 a year.

Iowa has naturally reproducing brown and brook trout in some of the cold-water streams flowing through northeastern counties. But lakes contain only stocked trout. If they aren’t caught before temperatures rise, most of them die.

Ice fishing is big in Iowa, particular at places such as Clear Lake in north-central Iowa and the Iowa Great Lakes in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa. In the Des Moines area, biologists will release trout in both Lake Petoka and Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake in Ames through the winter ice this season.

Iowans need a $12.50 trout stamp in addition to a fishing license to fish for trout. A resident fishing license costs $19. Children under age 16 can fish for trout without a license or stamp if they are with an adult who has both.

Dodd said the state also is experimenting with stocking hybrid striped bass, known as wipers, in gravel pits and ponds near cities.

They’ve been stocked at Saylorville Lake north of Des Moines for years, but have a reputation for being hard to catch.

They also don’t reproduce, and often get flushed through the spillway during floods. So it’s hard to keep the population up, Dodd said.

 Find where and when to fish for trout in Iowa: 
www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/TroutFishing.aspx

Montana gets $131,000 for fish habitat projects

Montana is among the states receiving funding for improving fish habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide more than $3.3 million to support 68 fish habitat projects in 36 states. An additional $9.9 million in partner contributions will go toward restoring and enhancing stream, lake and coastal habitat, as well as to improving recreational fishing and helping endangered species. The funding is provided by 15 Fish Habitat Partnerships. In Montana under the Western Native Trout Initiative, the state will receive $61,000 in Service funds and $70,000 in partner funds to restore 9 in stream miles in Four Mile Creek to benefit Yellowstone cutthroat trout. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in  science based, proven, fish protection.

Low Lake Level Allows Fish Habitat Improvements at Lake Fork


Members of the Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association (LFSA) partnered with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Inland Fisheries Division staff in making fish habitat improvements at Lake Fork on November 30.

Taking advantage of drought-induced low water levels that have exposed shorelines, teams planted 400 buttonbush plants at various sites. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), a native woody shrub commonly called “buckbrush,” was chosen in an attempt to establish woody cover for fishes. When inundated by water, it helps provide great bass fishing.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in  science based, proven, fish protection.

Lake Fork has had a long history of relatively stable water levels. This has been advantageous in that it has mostly translated into stable aquatic habitat and fish production. However, during the recent drought the disadvantage of this stability became evident. The lake elevation has dropped to an all-time record low, exposing shorelines and reducing cover which provides young fish shelter from predation and ambush cover for feeding adult sportfish. Lake Fork will likely be subject to more water level fluctuations in the future as the City of Dallas increases pumping operations on the lake, especially if the current drought persists.

In lakes where there are prolonged draw-downs, communities of assorted plants will colonize exposed sediment. These include emergent aquatic plants such as smartweed, sedges and rushes, along with a variety of terrestrial plants including shrubs and trees. Woody plants such as willows will grow rapidly along the shoreline, and when substantial amounts of rainfall return to the watershed and the lake elevation rises enough, the plants can become partially or totally inundated.  The “cover” that these plants provide creates shelter for fish and acts as a substrate for the establishment of many organisms in the aquatic food chain. Some of the woodier plants are persistent and will survive for many years and provide benefits to the ecosystem.

The first step in this habitat enhancement plan materialized in March 2011, when the LFSA purchased 1,000 bare-root buttonbush plants from a local tree nursery and planted them at selected locations throughout the reservoir. Survival of these small plants, most less than two feet in length, was low. At some of the planting sites they were trampled by feral hogs.

The second stage in LFSA’s habitat project began to take shape this past summer. The opportunity to purchase larger plants presented itself when a fish farmer in Columbus, Texas, approached TPWD looking for potential customers for 400 two-year old buttonbush plants.   These larger plants should experience better survival. The LFSA agreed to underwrite the majority ($1,900) of the purchase price, and TPWD contributed $650. Bushes were planted at different elevations to hedge against future water-level changes.Written on: 12/02/2011 by: TPWD

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Savannah’s Thurmond Lake accepts Christmas trees for recycling

Corps' Thurmond Lake Office accepts Christmas trees for recyclingPhoto by Tracy Robillard

Park Ranger David Quebedeaux places used Christmas trees in Thurmond Lake to enhance fish habitat.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Thurmond Project Office will accept natural Christmas trees (no artificial trees) for recycling Dec. 16 through Jan. 6.

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

The recycled trees will be used as fish attractors in Thurmond Lake. Corps rangers and volunteers will submerge trees around fishing piers to improve fishing habitat. Additional trees will be staged at select ramps around the lake to be used by the public. Anyone wishing to obtain a list of locations where the trees will be available should contact the Corps’ Thurmond Lake Office after Jan. 10.

The Christmas trees can be dropped off at Riverside Middle School, located in Evans, Ga. All decorations, such as tinsel, lights and garland must be removed from the trees before dropping them off. Dumping of household trash at the site is strictly prohibited.

“Small trees and brush provide cover for fish, particularly as nursery areas for juvenile fish,” said Kenneth Boyd, Thurmond Lake conservation biologist. “In addition, they provide habitat for aquatic insects – essential food during the early stages of most fish species.”

For more information or to volunteer, contact the Thurmond Lake Project Office toll free 1-800-533-3478, or visit
http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/thurmond/index.html.

How to Survive a Winter Lake Drawdown and benefit the fish

One of the best things about living in Tennessee is the year round fishing opportunities that are available to anglers. And one of my favorite spots to fish is from our dock. However as part of the lakes management is a controlled winter drawdown. As you can see this does give homeowners time to do maintenance on their docks and their sea walls as the water recedes. A drawdown will also control some of the unwanted shallow water vegetation that can become a nuisance around docks. What about the fish during this time? How does a draw down affect the fishing? In this post I will share some tips for surviving a winter drawdown.


In the winter as the water temperature drops, only a small percentage of bass are active through out the day. However once the water levels are drawn down, the bass are concentrated even more as they seek the comfort of deeper structure and cover. This gives anglers a cold-water advantage for catching bass.  Another advantage to anglers is that during a drawdown period the lake will get much less fishing pressure. With most ramps closed many anglers will not launch in the soft sedimentary mud of the newly exposed shoreline. This will give a great advantage to canoe and kayak anglers willing to face the cold and get out on the water.

Winter bass relate to structure, and nothing is more suitable for them that steep banks. The structure of a steep bank gives the bass quick access to feed in remaining shallow flats. Keying in on depth ranges from ten to twenty feet for winter bass during a drawdown can be a productive approach. Much of the wooden cover that the bass relate too normally is now above the water, this makes fishing any remaining wood cover a must for the winter trophy hunter.

Jerkbaits produce cold water bass very well, and perhaps jigs are the best all around bait for winter bass fishing in a drawdown period. Jigs with trailers pitched to stumps and any remaining cover work well for many anglers. Large Texas rigged worms have also produced many cold-water bites in a drawn down lake.

Time spend on the lake in the periods of low water can make you a better angler all year. Even better than structure scan and side imaging this is the time to study the topography of the lake. Look for bedding areas and cover, make notes of potential hot spots. Look at the water line and imagine if the level was up to vision the places that a bass would make his home. Isolated cover with quick access to deep water is always a good place to start. Return to those spots in the spring and you will be a local fishing legend.

Winter drawdowns have both good and bad points for anglers, but it is not the end of fishing. The controlled lowering of the water level helps lakes to be more fertile and protects the shoreline from winter erosion, and aquatic weed control. Drawdowns also limit ice damage to docks and loading ramps. One of the best things about a drawdown in the chance to greatly improve the habitat for fish. Spawning benches are a relatively new type of fish attractor for smallmouth bass.

Unlike tree attractors or stakebeds, spawning benches have the potential to enhance smallmouth populations by providing more spawning habitat.


The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency  biologists construct different types of fish attractors that can be placed in reservoirs. These devices do not normally enhance sport fish populations, but do provide structure around which fish can aggregate. Bass, crappie, and sunfish utilize these attractors and anglers may key on these sites to increase their fishing success. The most common type of fish attractors used are sunken trees which can be weighted down to the bottom of a lake.


TWRA’s Christmas tree habitat project in east Tennessee is a great example of how the Agency partners with anglers to build fish attractors. Stake beds for crappie are also used in lakes with dense crappie populations and the right combination of bottom slope and composition. Like, tree attractors, stake beds are marked by TWRA so that anglers know where they are located.

A drawdown can be a great way to gain an education about a specific body of water for a fisherman. Take advantage of the change to better your understanding of the lake structure, it will pay off. This is also the time to cash in as you find stray lures lost by others underneath docks, on stumps and laydown trees.

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

For more information on habitat enhancement for fish, visit the TWRA website at:
http://www.tn.gov/twra/fish/fishmain.html

And now I will share some of the pictures of our drawdown improvement projects of dock repair and sea wall maintenance.

Stillwaters Environmental Center for fish habitat enhancement gets it done

Olympic Fly Fishers of Edmonds plan Dec. 14 fund-raising auction

The Olympic Fly Fishers of Edmonds are hosting their annual dinner/auction Wednesday, Dec. 14th, to raise funds for a variety of conservation programs. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Edmonds Senior Center. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader in science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Last year’s dinner raised more than $4,000 that was used to support the Western Rivers Conservancy, an organization that focuses on the purchase of critical stream and estuary habitat; the Coastal Conservation Association of Washington, a grassroots organization that advocates for fish and fish habitat; and Long Live the Kings, which works toward restoring wild salmon to Pacific Northwest waters.

Last year the club also donated funds to the Stillwaters Environmental Center for fish habitat enhancement and is currently working with the Edmonds School District to encourage teachers to incorporate fish conservation into elementary school science projects.

This year’s auction will include a traditional live auction for a number of guided fishing trips, fishing equipment and an estate planning and will development session with a local attorney. The silent auction portion of the event will feature a large assortment of fishing-related equipment, outdoor clothing and gear, and raffle tickets will be sold for a chance to win gift baskets, books, wines, a barbecue grill and other items.

Tickets for the dinner are $50 per person. For more information and ticket-reservations for the dinner auction, contact Dave Gross at 425-582-7290 or by email: gross1@illinois.edu.

Mineral exploration is exploding, is the government assessing the environmental impact?

Critics claim mineral exploration in B.C. needs more accountability

Campaigning for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, Christy Clark promised to put the controversial Prosperity Mine project back into play.

Mineral exploration is exploding in B.C., but critics claim the provincial government isn’t assessing the environmental impact.

Soaring global demand for metal has caused a surge in mining and exploration in British Columbia, and Premier Christy Clark has promised to open eight new mines by 2015. However, recent reports from B.C.’s auditor general and the UVic Environmental Law Centre suggest the provincial environmental-assessment office is not up to the task.

Mines, typically subject to both federal and provincial reviews, are extremely complex. They often require hundreds of millions of dollars in investment capital and promise high-paying jobs and a windfall in tax revenue, but their environmental footprint is equally dizzying, with potential long-term impacts on fish-and-wildlife habitat. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader in science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.

Currently, the 50-person staff at the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) is weighing the socioeconomic benefits and environmental impacts of 60 projects, half of them for new mines, mine expansions, or old mines being resurrected, thanks to recent high mineral prices. Among them are projects like the Ajax Mine, a proposal by Abacus Mining and Exploration Corporation (in partnership with Polish mining giant KGHM Polska Miedz S. A.) for a massive 500-million-tonne (over 23 years) low-grade-copper property that was operated by Teck Cominco in the 1980s and 1990s but abandoned when copper prices were low.

This open-pit project on the doorstep of Kamloops is worth $550 million in capital investment, and is expected to have a 400-person full-time work force. It is undergoing both federal and provincial environmental assessments and has dominated public debate in this city of almost 90,000, just as the divisive Prosperity Mine, approved by the province but rejected by the feds, did and continues to do in the community of Williams Lake.

Vancouver-based environmental lawyer Mark Haddock, author of a report titled Environmental Assessment in British Columbia, published by the UVic Environmental Law Centre in November 2010, believes citizens have good reason to be wary of the process.

“I don’t think the B.C. assessment process is equipped to deal with these proposals,” Haddock says.

In his critique, Haddock called B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Act “weak and discretionary”, and wrote that decisions by the environment minister are often arbitrary and sometimes run counter to advice from government biologists and technical experts. Furthermore, the fact that the BCEAO hasn’t rejected a single proposal since 1995 further undermines public confidence in the process, according to Haddock.

For many, the Prosperity copper-gold mine, being proposed by Taseko Mines Limited for a site 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake on the Chilcotin Plateau, is the poster child for what’s wrong with B.C.’s environmental-assessment process.

The story of Prosperity is convoluted. Given the mine’s considerable potential impacts on the Tsilhqot’in aboriginal people and on Fish Lake—home to more than 80,000 rainbow trout—which Taseko proposed to use for waste-rock impoundment, the mine met the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s requirements for a joint review panel that would unite federal and provincial authorities in a single entity.

However, in 2008 Taseko Mines wrote a letter to federal and provincial officials criticizing the joint-review-panel process for putting “the future of a billion-dollar project in the hands of three unelected, unaccountable individuals” and placing an “excessive emphasis on established or asserted Aboriginal rights and title”.

Soon after receiving this letter, the province opted out of the joint review and decided to conduct its own independent assessment. Consequently, Tsilhqot’in leaders and environmental groups such as the Friends of the Nemiah Valley (FONV) boycotted the provincial process, claiming that Victoria was biased in favour of the proponent. In January 2010, acting on recommendations from the executive director of the BCEAO—and despite concerns raised by provincial biologists about impacts on grizzly-bear and fish habitat—the province approved Prosperity.

Meanwhile, the federal review was still under way, participants poring over a raft of First Nations cultural and environmental concerns. Almost a year after the province rendered its green light for Prosperity, the feds rejected the mine and Taseko’s plans to replace Fish Lake with an artificial fish habitat, among other concerns. In a strongly worded decision, Jim Prentice, federal environment minister at the time, called the mine’s impacts on fish of “high magnitude and irreversible”, and wrote that the project would destroy “an important cultural and spiritual area for the Tsilhqot’in people”. The company went back to the proposal stage.

Two processes, two dramatically different results, Haddock says.

“The feds and the province were using the same data but with a different set of criteria,” he says. “It’s important that these assessments appear credible, and when you have two very different decisions, as in the case of Prosperity, it raises some very serious doubts in the minds of the public and participants.”

David Williams, FONV president, agrees, and he says it’s the reason his group didn’t participate in the provincial process.

“We didn’t take part in the provincial review because we didn’t think there was any point,” Williams says.

Wayne McCrory, a bear biologist and cofounder of the Valhalla Wilderness Society, also boycotted the provincial process but, like FONV, made submissions to federal reviewers. He says the contempt for unbiased scientific opinion that he believes underpinned the B.C. approval of Prosperity is something he has seen before: when, in 2004, the province approved the contentious Jumbo Glacier Resort project in the Purcell Mountains east of Kootenay Lake after a lengthy process that started when the proponent first filed an application in 1996.

“In the case of Jumbo, 11 biologists on the former grizzly-bear scientific advisory committee wrote a letter to the minister, opposing Jumbo. I was one of those members,” McCrory tells the Georgia Straight over the phone from his home in the Slocan Valley. “Valhalla [Wilderness Society] hired independent biologist Dr. Brian Horejsi to do an impact study on grizzly bears related to Jumbo. He did an extensive job, including a CEA [cumulative effects assessment]. A number of Ministry of Environment biologists were also opposed.”

McCrory says he believes the province’s biggest weakness is in assessing cumulative effects, which, by the federal government’s definition, are “changes to the biophysical, social, economic and cultural environments caused by the combination of past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions”. McCrory believes that if the BCEAO conducted thorough CEAs, it would never have authorized the Prosperity Mine and the destruction of a culturally and environmentally significant water body like Fish Lake.

Although the BCEAO is finding few friends in the environmental and conservation community, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is considered more robust than its provincial counterpart, the last line of defence for the environment. It was the CEAA that ultimately rejected the proposed Kemess North copper-gold mine in 2007 as well as Prosperity, in both cases citing impacts on fish-and-wildlife habitat and significant conflicts with aboriginal rights and titles.

However, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the CEAA is under attack, according to Josh Paterson, a lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law. He says the Conservatives buried profound changes to environmental-assessment legislation deep within the 900-page March 2010 budget bill, giving the federal environment minister far more discretionary power to exempt projects from full environmental reviews. Then, last summer, the feds took the scalpel to the CEAA’s budget.

“The federal government is now cutting funding to the environmental-assessment agency,” Paterson says, referring to a more than 40-percent cut announced in the June 3, 2011, speech from the throne.

Paterson shares McCrory’s concern about the province’s incomplete approach to assessing the cumulative effects of major projects. However, in fairness to the BCEAO, he says he believes that this type of analysis is complex and may be beyond the current capacity of the office, especially with metal mines that may face technically challenging and costly cleanup of toxic mine waste for years after they cease operation.

Though many critics are lamenting the weakening of environmental-assessment capacity at both federal and provincial levels, mineral exploration and mine development continue to explode. Developing economies like China have an insatiable appetite for metal, and we need it for the cars we drive, our electronic gadgets, and the appliances in our homes. According to Lyn Anglin, president and CEO of Geoscience B.C., the province has plenty of untapped mineral wealth. Geoscience B.C. is an industry-led organization created in 2005 to undertake geological-data-gathering projects with the hope of attracting more mining investment to the province.

Currently, the organization is spearheading surveys of the Quesnellia Terrane, a chunk of central B.C. rich in copper-gold porphyry and extending from the Gibraltar and Mount Polley mines near Williams Lake to the Mount Milligan copper-gold property northwest of Prince George. According to Anglin, the 2007 announcement of the project, which Geoscience B.C. dubbed QUEST, resulted in a frenzy of online claim-staking.

Zoë Younger, vice president of corporate affairs for the Mining Association of B.C., says the province hasn’t seen this much excitement around mining since the 1860s Cariboo gold rush. Regarding environmental assessments, Younger says she believes in a robust regulatory framework, but she is primarily concerned about wasteful duplication of efforts, which she says was the case with Prosperity. That’s why the association is cheering September’s B.C. Jobs Plan, which included a commitment of $24 million in funding to natural-resources ministries with the goal of reducing the time it takes to get decisions on permits and approvals.

Younger says industry opponents often overstate the environmental impact of mining and understate its economic importance. According to 2008 government figures, metal mining alone contributed $2.6 billion to the provincial economy, and that excludes what was generated from coal mining and other fossil-fuel extraction.

“The [environmental] footprint of a mine relative to its economic contribution to GDP is much lower than other resource industries,” Younger says, referring to industrial logging and commercial fishing.

Industry boosters like Geoscience B.C. and the mining association can rest assured they have the support of the provincial government. Christy Clark promised to put the Prosperity Mine back in play when she was campaigning for the B.C. Liberal Party leadership, and she has made mining one of the pillars of her jobs plan.

The province estimates that projects worth a potential $30 billion in capital investment are piled up in the BCEAO system. Of the 222 projects that the environmental-assessment office has handled since 1995, only one was rejected, while 115 were approved and the remainder either are still under review, have been withdrawn, or have been determined to be exempt from environmental assessments. Yet the annual budget of the BCEAO is telling: at only $8,754,000, it’s one-third less than what the province gave to Geoscience B.C. last May.

The provincial government may be able to dismiss criticism of its environmental-assessment record from NGOs and environmental lawyers, but it’s harder to ignore the words of its own auditor general. Last July, John Doyle, then auditor general of B.C., released a critical report on the BCEAO, saying that “adequate monitoring and enforcement of certified projects is not occurring, and follow-up evaluations are not being conducted.” He also said that information being supplied to the public is insufficient “to ensure accountability”. But what’s even more troubling is what Doyle referred to as the government’s “hostility” toward environmental assessments, as revealed in the February 2010 throne speech, during which the Speaker called the CEAA a “Byzantine bureaucratic process” that holds “jobs and investment hostage”.

John Mazure, the BCEAO’s executive director, says that although he would have preferred a “glowing report” from the auditor general, his office is taking it seriously. However, he takes issue with critics who continually point to the office’s green-light track record as a sign of fallibility. He admits that most applications that make it to the minister’s desk get approved, but he says that what’s missing from this statistic is the number of projects that are altered and improved in consultation with government specialists as they work through the assessment. Mazure calls it an “iterative process”, which is described on the BCEAO website as being intended “to address all issues satisfactorily such that there are no residual adverse impacts that would prevent an EA certificate from being issued”.

“I’ve heard everything, that we rubber-stamp projects without looking at them, but that’s simply not the case. What people don’t realize is that once a project reaches the minister, we’ve had a pretty good kick at it,” Mazure says. “Our specialists work with the proponents throughout the process on mitigative measures.”

The Prosperity Mine proposal, positioned as an economic lifeboat for the struggling Cariboo region, is like a festering wound for the province. The federal government’s rejection of Prosperity was a huge embarrassment for then-premier Gordon Campbell, who had been a vocal and enthusiastic supporter of Taseko’s bid. This fiasco also nags the BCEAO. Mazure refuses to second-guess his predecessor at the BCEAO, who recommended approval of Prosperity in spite of what appeared to be glaring environmental concerns.

He also says observers forget that the federal and provincial environmental-assessment agencies have different mandates: the former is focused primarily on environmental impacts and aboriginal rights and title, while the latter weighs economic, social, health, heritage, and environmental factors. However, Mazure admits that the mining boom has the potential to stretch the BCEAO’s resources.

“Fifty percent of our projects right now are mines,” he says. “It’s one thing assessing a mine that’s not near a water body, but when it’s metres from a water body, the environmental impacts are complex. They are very complicated and they take more of our resources. We’re very dependent on specialists from other ministries. And in these processes, not everybody will be pleased with the outcome. One side will be complaining, the other side will be celebrating.”

David Williams, of the Friends of the Nemiah Valley, belonged to one of those sides. He was heavily involved in fighting the Prosperity Mine and is now preparing for a renewed battle, as Taseko Mines has submitted a retooled proposal that could spare Fish Lake.

“Honestly, I think the Environment Ministry has been so watered down that they lack the capacity to handle these issues,” Williams says.By Andrew Findlay

Log Jams Left Behind By Irene for fish habitat?

rock_river.jpg

VPR/ Nancy Eve Cohen
Debris along the floodplain next to the Rock River in South Newfane. The Agency of Natural Resources is working to determine which log jams will cause problems during spring flooding.

(Host) Tropical Storm Irene washed trees and other debris into rivers and streams.

With winter coming on and the spring floods that follow, the state has launched an initiative to assess the location of debris that could dam up water flow.

But as VPR’s Nancy Cohen, reports there’s no state money to remove the logjams.

(Cohen) The Agency of Natural Resources is asking regional planning commissions to work with towns to identify what clean up work on which rivers and streams should be a priority. Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz says there’s a concern about log jams

(Markowitz) “The trees around streams and brooks were lifted out of the grounds and now are in the rivers and streams. The towns are concerned that if they don’t act, it’s going to  cause problems during the seasonal flood in the spring.”

(Cohen) The six regional planning commissions in the areas most affected by Irene are surveying towns, including the Windham County commission.

Chris Campany, its executive director, is in South Newfane, where the Rock River jumped across Dover Road during the flood.

He says the survey is trying to pinpoint where there are areas that are still vulnerable to flooding  during winter thaws or spring flooding. Campany says the survey asks about debris jams in streams that may act like a dam during a thaw.

(Campany) “As ice breaks up or as water flows you basically wind up with a lake forming up behind that debris jam.  And then it either finds its own course or it breaks through and suddenly you have that surge of water.”

(Cohen) Campany says big pieces of debris could cause big problems

(Campany ) “Some of the logs are going to be the battering rams that you have during the next flood event.”

(Cohen) The Agency of Natural Resources will send engineers and hydrologists to assess the debris jams that pose the highest risks. The agency can help decide how much debris should be left in a stream to protect fish habitat and how much should be removed.

But Justin Johnson, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, says there’s no state money to help towns or private property owners remove the debris.

(Johnson) “If there’s a log jam or  some kind of a debris jam that’s imminently  threatening a public assets  then we can usually get FEMA money to help remove that. But if it’s just something on private, sending water onto private land somewhere, it’s not going to affect a public asset we don’t have access to money to do anything with that .”

(Cohen) Private property owners might be able to get funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove debris that could cause a flood.

For VPR News I’m Nancy Cohen

(Host) Reporting about Vermont’s recovery from the floods of Tropical Storm Irene is supported by the VPR Journalism Fund.

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.

Dry Creek fish habitat restoration plan approved

Nov. 21–The first stage of a habitat makeover for Dry Creek coho salmon and steelhead is one step closer to construction.
Sonoma County officials will unveil plans next summer to install side channels, boulders and logs to offer greater shelter for the endangered and threatened fish.

The work is part of a 2008 federal order to improve conditions for the two species in the Russian River watershed. On Dry Creek, which the county uses to deliver water for 600,000 customers but where fish are in need of more slow-water habitat, the efforts would cover six of the stream’s 14 miles and cost $36 to $48 million.

County supervisors last week approved the first phase of that project, on a one-mile stretch of the stream bisected by Lambert Bridge Road.

Eleven landowners in the area are working with the county to provide access to the creek for construction and future maintenance and repair. Total building cost is estimated at $6 million to $8 million, with an additional $413,000 for the purchase of short- and long-term easements.

County officials hope the work, including collaboration with an initial group of landowners, will lay the foundation for the rest of the project, which would run through 2020 if the early stages are successful.

The alternative is a costlier $150 million to $200 million fix that would lower flows in the creek through a parallel water pipeline running from Lake Sonoma to Healdsburg.

“To say the success of the first mile (of habitat improvement) is critical to the entire project is an understatement,” said Supervisor Mike McGuire, who represents the area. “Failure is not an option.”

Construction is set to begin in June and run through October, taking advantage of the dry season.

Excavators will carve out four channels off the main creek for backwater habitat, while workers in other areas embed boulder clusters and about 2,000 logs in the stream to slow water and provide holding pockets for fish.

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.

Non-native plants will also be removed and native bushes and trees installed.

The goal is about 114,000 square feet of improved habitat, said David Manning, principal environmental specialist for the county Water Agency, which is overseeing the project.

One grape grower participating in the project said the efforts were part of a renewed focus on fish-friendly farming in the area.

“We’re looking forward to working with the agency on Dry Creek projects now and in the future,” said Ned Horton, vineyard manager at Quivira Vineyards and Winery.
By Brett Wilkison, The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Wonder Lake Sportsman’s Club adds over 50 more Fishiding artificial fish habitat

 
Published 17th Nov 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a15veu8Onlg&feature=player_embedded
Members of the Sportsman’s club are at it again, enhancing their lake with more long term habitat, teamed up with Fishiding, 56 units of all varieties were dropped in a key area adjacent to spawning grounds. About 10 shallow Cradle models were sunk in 3-5 feet of water, with a line of Safehouse structures leading out to deeper water. The Cradle model consists of hundreds of fine strands of reclaimed PVC designed to give fry and baitfish areas to grow and hide from predators. When the fry have adequate habitat, they are given time to grow to the preferred size of 4-6 inches before venturing out into deeper water to become forage for predators.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 key is to make sure there is a continuous line or “tree row” of habitat from shallow spawning grounds out to deep water.

If the fish have to swim from shallow areas out to deeper cover without cover to hide in, they get eaten prematurely, or before growing large enough to best benefit the larger predators like bass, walleye, crappie and musky.

The club members clipped structurespot markers to each unit as it was dropped, to see where each one lands to ensure the continuous coverage.

When all units are installed, they took some pictures to refer to the shape and design they created.

After the pics, they simply pull the clip free on the structurespot markers and wind them  up to re-use.

The Safehouse models were installed from about 5 feet deep out to 8 feet and deeper where a huge cluster of the largest Keeper models were dropped.

Algae begins to grow immediately in this dark, fertile water and the club will be fishing over them this winter through the ice.

To date, over 125 fishiding fish habitatunits have been installed, with more being put together by members, donated by fishiding.

Wonder Lake, at 830 acres, is the largest private lake in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Through many different fund raising events, the club stocks fish twice a year as well as building and installing over 100 Wood duck houses, maintaining them and even video recording the hatching of chicks too.

Annual lake cleanups, fish shocking surveys, carp derbys and kids fishing events are just a few of the things the club does for the lake and the community.

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