The Charlevoix County Community Foundation has awarded the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) an $8,000 grant to incorporate all of the road/stream crossing inventory data for the Lake Charlevoix watershed into the existing web-based “River Restoration in Northwest Michigan” site (http://www.liaa.info/crabmp/default.asp). This GIS database, designed by CRA and Land Information Access Association (LIAA), includes the framework for an interactive and updateable tool for tracking sediment input at sites throughout 15 counties in northwest Michigan.

The Pere Marquette River is a state designated Natural River, a federally designated Wild and Scenic River, and a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream. Tributaries like Sweetwater Creek provide critical spawning and escape cover for fish, travel corridors for wildlife, and instream habitat for aquatic insects. Sweetwater Creek is approximately 1.5 miles long and this crossing project opens fish passage up to a half mile of it.

The Burnt Mill Road Crossing on the Platte River mainstem (site #PR-8) was a severe site that contributed sediment to the stream and altered the natural stream channel. CRA worked with partners to construct a beautiful timber bridge over the Platte River, reminiscent of the natural character of the wooded area and former mill and railroad site at Burnt Mill. Additional woody debris work will be completed downstream.

The Jordan River was designated the state’s first Natural River in 1972 and is a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream. On the lower river an electrical sea lamprey barrier was operated in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the agency charged with treating Michigan’s streams to prevent uncontrolled reproduction of sea lamprey. Unfortunately, the barrier began to fail after ten years of operation and required an estimated $250,000 in repairs to make it fully operational. As a result, the USFWS turned to chemical treatments (TFM) to reduce lamprey populations. Thus, the barrier remained an obstacle to some fish, and started to break down, no longer serving any practical purpose. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division, agreed that its removal is in the best interest of the watershed. In fact, its removal is a management option identified in the Jordan River Assessment written by MDNRE Fisheries Division (Hay 2004).

The Betsie River is a State Designated Natural River and is well known for its steelhead and salmon fishery. The Betsie River is a Lake Michigan tributary and it flows through Grand Traverse, Benzie, and Manistee Counties, with its headwaters starting in Green Lake. The Betsie River Watershed has 106 road/stream crossings with 64 recommended for some type of improvement. Site #B-20 is where the Betsie mainstem crosses King Road; this site was ranked severe with its steep, sandy eroding road approaches that washed over the bridge deck into the river with snowmelt and rain events. By partnering with the Grand Traverse Band, Environmental Protection Agency and the Benzie County Road Commission, sufficient funding was secured in order to harden the approaches and include curbing and diversion outlets to channel runoff away from the stream.

Driftwood Valley-Little Manistee River Project

Pine 230th Avenue Fish Cover Habitat Project

Kinney Creek & Wingleton Road Timber Bridge Project

Silver Creek/State Road Fish Passage Project

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today called on the U.S. Congress to maintain funding for successful Great Lakes programs that protect drinking water, safeguard public health, create jobs and uphold a way of life for millions of people.