GLC Conservation

What does the Great Lakes Council and FFI do for you? These Great Lakes Council Conservation Committee programs help ensure that there will be cold, clean water and great fishing for generations to come.

Conservation Grants

The Great Lakes Council of Fly Fishers International’s Conservation Grant Program provides grants to support “on the ground” conservation activities.  Projects include stream restoration, biological sampling, fish or habitat research, construction of boat ramps, installation of monofilament dispensers or instructional signs and other projects that enhance and protect fisheries.  The GLC partners with FFI and our clubs on these grants and FFI members often do the “hands on” work needed to complete the projects. To apply for a grant download the application from the Conservation tab at www.flyfishersinternational.org.

Recent grants awarded include:

  • Restoring a tributary to the Manistee River

  • Aiding efforts to stop the Aquila Mine on the Menominee River in the UP

  • Supporting the Anglers of the AuSable to stop the establishment of a fish farm on the river

  • Syers Lake Dam Removal on a tributary to the Little Manistee River

Conservation Actions and Policy Positions

The GLC also takes positions on important conservation issues and provides testimony to the Natural Resources Commission and the legislature. Recent actions include:

  • Providing testimony to the NRC opposing chumming on Michigan trout streams (rules were eventually enacted prohibiting chumming)

  • Opposing recreational gold mining on Michigan Rivers

  • Opposing establishment of a weir on the Big Manistee that would hamper fish migration

  • Opposing the establishment of farms in the Great Lakes

  • Opposing Nestle Waters request for increased water withdrawals

Representation on Important Conservation Groups

The Great Lakes Council membership has an important voice in numerous DNR committees and Conservation Groups. These include:

  • DNR Cold Water Resources Committee

  • DNR Warm Water Resources Committee

  • DNR Lake Michigan Citizens Advisory Council

  • Michigan Environmental Council

  • Conservation Resource Alliance

  • Michigan Hydro Relicensing Commission

  • DNR Grayling Restoration Committee

It’s a common-sense proposal that should save significant numbers of trout from an avoidable death, and it doesn’t cost a dime to implement.

At their June conclave, the executive council of the FFF-GLC voted to endorse the 70 Degree Pledge and post an information link to it on the organization’s website.

The Au Sable Big Water Preservation Association (ASBWPA), a grassroots organization formed to protect Michigan’s Au Sable River below Mio Dam, known as the Big Water, developed the pledge.  Trout, coldwater fish, are very susceptible to the deleterious effects of warm water temperatures.  They thrive in temperatures from 55 to 65 degrees, but above that range these fish begin to lose vitality.  Threats to their survival are augmented when they are hooked and then released. While any released fish has a better chance at life than if it is kept, at water temperatures of 70 degrees or above there may be little difference in life expectancy.  Fish with already overheated metabolisms are physically exhausted from being caught and find little relief when released into water with low levels of oxygen.

“They can’t recover the oxygen needed to resolve the debt incurred from being caught,” said Thomas Buhr, President of the ASBWPA and a new member of the FFF-GLC board.  “Warm water means less oxygen as well as a physiology in a trout that demands even more of it.  We lose thousands of fish each summer because of this.”

The Au Sable River below Mio Dam has long had problems with high water temperatures in the summer months.  Unknowing Anglers can kill trout during times of sustained temperatures of 70 degrees or above.  Buhr’s ASBWPA was formed, in part, because of this issue.

“I killed a bunch myself because I didn’t know any better,” Buhr said.  “Now I’m trying to make up for it.”

The pledge is simple: do not try catch-and-release fishing on the Big Water on any day where the morning water temperature is 70 degrees or greater.  Folks are encouraged to pursue warm-water species such as smallmouth bass or seek cooler environs for trout.

These 70 Degree alerts often last for weeks.  The longest stretch this summer was 29 days.  In 2011, there was a four-day period where the water temperature stayed above 75 degrees, killing many trout outright.

The Au Sable is not the only river afflicted with this problem.  It is very common on tail-water systems.  It is recommended to check USGS gauges, if possible, for the river one intends to fish.

 

(The website address is www.70degreepledge.org.  A copy of the ASBWPA’s 2011 Summer Water Temperature Study can be obtained by sending your name and address to tom@asbwpa.org.)

Dams and Dam Removal in Michigan

Like most of the country, Michigan’s rivers and streams are plugged with thousands of dams, big and small. According to the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force report that was issued following the 2020 catastrophic Edenville and Sanford Dam failures on the Tittabawassee River, there are more than 2,600 known dams in the state,and likely more that haven’t crossed state regulators’ radar. The state estimates that 72,000 miles of Michigan rivers are fragmented by dams. In addition, the majority of the dams fall into the “aging infrastructure” category, being between 50 and 100 years in age, and many are in need of repair.

Dr. Bryan Burroughs of Michigan Trout Unlimited provided an excellent summary of the ongoing effort to accelerate dam removals in Michigan: “Dams, Dams, Dams” in the Fall 2022 issue of Michigan Trout.  In addition to describing the ongoing effort to remove dams, the article summarizes how dams negatively affect water quality, block migration and interrupt reproduction of numerous native and game fish species and other aquatic organisms, prevent natural sediment transport, and eliminate conveyance of wood and other organic materials to downstream waters.

The Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition, a coalition made up of Anglers of the Au Sable, Michigan Trout Unlimited, Great Lakes Federation of Fly Fishers International, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, and the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen’s Association, has been focused on hydropower dam issues and management since the early 1990s, including advocating for dam removal for river restoration.  The Coalition has been a partner in two of the more significant hydropower dam removal projects in northern Michigan: Stronach Dam on the Pine River and the three dams on the Boardman River.

The Coalition is also very much involved in the current Consumers Energy long-term hydropower project planning that will be considering decommissioning and dam removal as one of the potential outcomes.  This long-term hydropower planning presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the adverse legacy that hydropower dams have had on the coldwater fisheries of the Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon Rivers.  As a general policy, the Coalition joins the Michigan DNR in advocating for restoration of river systems through removal of barriers and dams when possible. While dam removal is our ideal preference, the Coalition and the DNR  recognize that the current undertaking by Consumers is complex as the hydropower projects provide many associated community recreational and other project-related benefits (e.g., sensitive species habitat), and the long-term hydropower planning is not likely to lead to a one-size-fits-all approach.  However, many of these dams are now in need of major capital investments. The cost of wind and solar electricity has dropped while hydropower has increased, resulting in 1 MW of hydropower generated electricity now costing about 31 times as much as 1 MW of wind electricity. The bottom line is that many of these dams are not economically cost-efficient for the small amount of electricity they produce (and they continue to impair valuable coldwater fisheries!).  The Coalition will be an active participant in both the upcoming community level prosperity groups that Consumers is planning to help guide its decision making for the future of its dams.  Finally, the Coalition is planning to engage with any future Michigan Public Service Commission proceedings where Consumers seeks cost recovery for its long-term capital improvements for these aging hydropower dams.

Beyond the hydropower dam world, there is a growing effort to remove other dams in Michigan. Kelly House of Bridge Michigan wrote an excellent article entitled “Michigan steps up dam removal in race against climate change” (October 16, 2023).  In a quest to defend Michigan’s rivers against climate change, resource agencies, the Tribes, and fisheries advocates are increasingly zeroing in on a simple strategy to restore rivers by lowering water temperatures and reconnecting miles of habitat: removing dams.  Key leaders in facilitating dam removal in northern Michigan are Huron Pines, Anglers of the Au Sable, Michigan Trout Unlimited, Conservation Resource Alliance, and the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly.

Huron Pines, serving northeastern Michigan including the Au Sable River watershed, has been actively involved in seven dam removals since 2007.  Most notable was the Song of the River dam removal on the Pigeon River (https://www.huronpines.org/reconnectingourwaterways).  In addition, five more dam removals are in the planning phase by Huron Pines.

The Anglers of the Au Sable have partnered with Michigan Trout Unlimited to remove the dams at the Grayling fish hatchery, and the project is set for construction in 2024.  This project will reconnect  23 miles of the East Branch Au Sable with the mainstem.  Michigan TU also removed a small dam in the Au Sable watershed that was warming the downstream water by 13F in the summer.  It is set to remove another dam on the upper mainstem in 2024, and a small dam on a tributary to the North Branch in either 2024 or 2025.

Conservation Resource Alliance, Huron-Pines’ counterpart in northwestern lower Michigan, has led 40+ dam removals to date spanning seven watersheds. One additional dam removal will be implemented in 2024, three more are in the design phase, and another three dams are in the discussion phase for dam removal (https://www.rivercare.org/rivercare/).  The most significant dam removal project managed by CRA was the Boardman River dam removal and restoration (“The Boardman, A River Reborn” by Kimberly Balke in the Summer 2020 issue of Michigan Trout).

Finally, removing dams in the Muskegon River watershed is a priority for the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly.  A current project of interest for coldwater enthusiasts is the removal of Altona Dam on the Little Muskegon River, an important coldwater fishery (https://mrwa.org/mrwa_projects/altona-dam/).

As well-stated by Bryan Burroughs in his 2022 Michigan Trout article, “dams and dam removals are critical in our fight for the future of Michigan’s coldwater fisheries. Water temperature and watershed connectivity are fundamental to having healthy and resilient coldwater fisheries to pass to future generations. The number of dams and their negative impact is a current impairment and threat but provides valuable opportunities to improve cold waters for the future.”

Bob Stuber, Executive Director

Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition