Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Updated 2024-11-06 18:10:50

Lake Superior -> 1.0 Habitat -> Habitat

1.1.1 Number of barriers removed, kilometers of stream connected, kilometers of stream restored, instream/upland habitat restoration.

AGENCY HIGHLIGHTS ON HABITAT RESTORATION:

USFWS: Through the various habitat restoration programs the USFWS delivers out of the Ashland, Wisconsin office 17 barriers to fish passage were removed, 106 kilometers (66 miles) of coldwater streams were reconnected, 115 acres of riparian/coastal wetland habitat were restored, and 189 acres of upland habitat were restored. Although the upland habitat is not currently identified as a metric, per se, these acres of upland habitat restoration (i.e., convert ag fields to forests, create wetlands in the uplands to "slow the flow" of rain and snow melt, etc.) have significant and direct benefits to fish populations in stream as well as in the nearshore waters via overall watershed health benefits that help reduce excess sedimentation in streams and in embayments and nearshore.

Minnesota DNR: Through a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant, the MNDNR partnered with The Nature Conservancy and others to create over 2,000 riparian gaps and reforest them with over 36,200 long-lived conifer and climate adapted species enhancing more than 3,000 acres of riparian area where the forest had been degraded along more than 90 miles of stream. In the Hockamin Creek sub-watershed of the Baptism River, MNDNR and partners removed seven culverts that were barriers to Brook Trout migration into cold headwater streams restoring 95% connectivity in the sub-watershed. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency developed a Stressor Identification Report for the Lake Superior North watershed for informing the Watershed Restoration and Protecting Strategy (WRAPS) effort.  In 2018, following a successful stream restoration project on Knowlton Creek in the City of Duluth, wild produced juvenile Brook Trout were sampled for the first time in history marking successful rehabilitation of the native species back to this coldwater watershed.  Restoration of degraded reaches in coldwater streams remains a high-priority for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Michigan DNR: One of Michigan’s key habitat protection programs is the safeguarding of the Traverse Bay Buffalo Reef by halting of migrating copper stamp sands moving towards the Reef.  Annual year-round dredging of stamp sands along the shoreline north of the Traverse Bay breakwall has stemmed the movement of sand into the shoal submerged “trough” that routes migrating sands onto the reef.  Efforts to remove and contain these shoreline sands will continue to be implemented.  In the year 2021, the Michigan DNR using EPA-GLRI funds succeeded in removing an Ontonagon River dam that blocked fish access to a coastal wetland estuary known as the Rose Island Estuary in the Village of Ontonagon.  The opening of this estuary has now opened this 1-mile wetland area to nursery and larval fishes, including Lake Sturgeon.  The restoration of this wetland has also opened up a 1-mile stretch of estuary to waterfowl, furbearers, reptiles/amphibian, and riparian obligate species.  With the funding from numerous State, Federal, and partnership sources, Great Lakes fish passage was improved on numerous, maybe 100’s, of coastal streams along the South Shore of Lake Superior.   Additionally, point source soil and sedimentation areas were addressed with geomorphic engineering design to eliminate these sources from degrading fish spawning and nursery habitat for Great Lakes fishes.  Aquatic invasive species reduction and control has been conducted by various watershed groups, University programs, and State/Federal/Co-op groups. 

Wisconsin DNR: Over 100 road-stream crossings were inventoried on all classified trout streams from Lake Superior upstream to their first impassable barrier (e.g., dams, natural falls). These included three crossings on Little Balsam Creek within the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) that were replaced with upsized bottomless arch culverts after previous multi-pipe culverts were destroyed by floods. The project was led by Wisconsin’s AOC Program, with technical assistance from DNR Fisheries (fish_passage_slr_wi_project_description_2.pdf (epa.gov)). Two actively eroding bluffs on North Fish Creek, a classified trout stream and tributary to Chequamegon Bay, were stabilized to reduce sediment loads from North Fish Creek to Chequamegon Bay. The project was led by Northland College, in consultation with DNR Fisheries (Burke Center Awarded $200,000 - Northland College). Other projects entered the scoping and planning phase. These included: (1) a collaborative project within DNR’s Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to replace a culvert and install a bridge at a 70-foot-tall rail grade crossing of Little Balsam Creek that had deteriorated over the years and was identified as a likely fish passage barrier; (2) a DNR Fisheries-led project to remove a 40-foot-tall failing rail grade and its concrete culvert at Nebagamon Creek, a classified trout stream and tributary to the Bois Brule River, that had posed a considerable sediment risk and a fish passage barrier; and (3) a multi-agency project to remediate contaminated sediments, increase hydraulic connectivity, and enhance fish habitat, particularly for muskellunge, in hydraulically limited “ponds” adjacent to Superior Bay (Pickle Pond (arcgis.com)). DNR Fisheries continued to review permit applications and work with its regulatory programs to protect in-lake and tributary habitats.