Abstract Details

<< Back to Schedule

5/22/2015  |   08:00 - 19:00   |  Offsite

Field Trip
STREAM RESTORATION FOR AQUATIC CONNECTIVITY IN THE MILWAUKEE RIVER AND LAKE MICHIGAN WATERSHEDS This field trip will focus on stream restoration to improve aquatic connectivity in the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan Watersheds. The trip will highlight the successful efforts of the Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department's Fish Passage Program. Since 2006, the Program has identified and remediated over 230 impediments to fish passage. This work have reconnected over 100 stream miles and thousands of acres of high-quality habitat which has supported long-term efforts to re-establish self-sustaining native populations of threatened and special-concern fish. Target species include lake sturgeon (a species of special concern in Wisconsin), walleye and northern pike. Program activities have received national awards and recognition and are supported by a variety of federal, state, and local grants including funding from the NOAA/ARRA, USEPA/GLRI, and the USFWS. Field trip sites will include a natural fishway allowing aquatic species passage past the Mequon Thiensville Dam; the Lime Kiln Dam and Newburg Dam removal and restoration sites; a large scale habitat enhancement project on Ulao Creek; and a road/stream crossing replacement in Ehlers Park. Participants will have lunch at the Water Street Brewery. The bus departs from the Hilton Milwaukee Downtown at 8 am and will return at 4 pm. Contact and Group Leader: Andrew T. Struck, Director of Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department. (Phone 262-238-8275, email: astruck@co.ozaukee.wi.us). Limited to 40 participants. Cost: $55 per person.