US Army B Fort McCoy Update

office - nothing definite yet). Contact: John Noble, 608-388-5796, john.noble@emh2.mccoy.army.mil

The following projects are from Inter-Fluve Inc. and contact information is: Marty Melchior, Stream Ecologist, Inter-Fluve Inc., 735 West Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53233, 414-289-7783, mmelchior@interfluve.com

Mill Creek Restoration B Plymouth, Wisconsin. Inter-Fluve has completed design work, and construction will begin on April 1^st for this ongoing project that involves the restoration of approximately 3.0 acres of forested wetland and 2,200 feet of two small streams. The plan for this restoration includes the daylighting of numerous culverts, conversion of aquaculture ponds to wetlands, elevation of degraded streambeds, and restoration of trout habitat. Two large WDNR crews led by John Nelson (Plymouth WDNR) will be completing the work, with the assistance of the Sheboygan County Highway Department. This project is also being funded by the WDNR and a Great Lakes Protection Fund grant to Trout Unlimited and is set for completion in July of 2002. Brian Graber, water resources engineer and fluvial geomorphologist with Trout Unlimited, assisted Inter-Fluve in the design and construction process.

Franklin Dam Removal B Franklin, Wisconsin. In the Summer of 2001, the Wisconsin DNR (Plymouth) removed the last pieces of an abandoned dam on the Sheboygan River in the Town of Franklin. The river has cut down a few feet into the drained impoundment, and vegetation has quickly reestablished. The site will be monitored for stability over the next few years. This removal frees up another 10 miles of the Sheboygan River.

Little is known about the stream habitat and associated aquatic resources of the streams on the Red Cliff Indian Reservation. Recent emphasis on rehabilitation of brook trout populations in general (and Acoaster@ brook trout in particular) has sparked increasing efforts toward erosion control and other habitat improvements on reservation streams that are all tributary to Lake Superior.

The Red Cliff Natural Resources Department and Tribal Fish Hatchery have been working cooperatively with federal, state, and local governments to gather information about reservation streams and watersheds while beginning to implement improvements as time and funding allows. Population surveys are being conducted on multiple reaches of most of the streams within the reservation, and cursory habitat evaluations have been conducted for these reaches. In future years we hope to be able to add more sampling reaches and evaluate fish use during different seasons. We also plan to secure funding to conduct detailed watershed assessments and stream reach habitat evaluations. We have competed projects to remove a large debris jam and a collapsed bridge culvert from Red Cliff Creek that resulted from last year=s floods. Wetlands have been constructed in two locations to treat effluent from the hatchery before the water enters Red Cliff Creek. In 2002, we are planning to install an artificial spawning substrate at the outflow from one of the hatchery wetlands and restore degraded instream in that area. We will proceed with an experimental stocking of Nipigon strain coaster brook trout in Sucker Creek while continuing other stocking efforts of eggs, fry and adults in additional stream and coastal habitat. Also in 2002, we will restore wetlands on a tributary of the Raspberry River to help control runoff and sedimentation. Other projects on the horizon include implementing alternative methods for sea lamprey control on Red Cliff Creek, re-establishing the connection between stream and lake on several streams, experiments to raise and grow Alocal@ strains of brook trout in the hatchery, and additional erosion control and instream habitat improvements. Contact: Tom Fratt, Red Cliff Natural Resources Department, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, 88385 Pike Road Highway 13, Bayfield, WI 54814, tomfratt@cheqnet.net

removal. This will allow the manager or dam owner to quickly evaluate whether more elaborate management plans will be required for sediments. A welcome tool both economically and for increased protection of the downstream ecosystems! For more information, contact: Todd Ambs, Executive Director (tambs@wisconsinrivers.org) or Helen Sarakinos, Small Dams Program Manager (hsarakinos@wisconsinrivers.org), River Alliance of Wisconsin

The Western Lake Michigan Drainages study unit of the US Geological Survey=s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program begins intensive sampling this year. Sampling for water quality, habitat, and stream biology will be done at 4 trend sites sampled during the last cycle of intensive sampling in 1993-95. Additional special topic studies are planned and include (1) an urban land use gradient study in the Milwaukee and Green Bay areas, and (2) a study of bioaccumulation of mercury in river ecosystems. In 2002 at 9 sites in the Western Lake Michigan study unit, total mercury will be determined in composited gamefish fillets, and total and methylmercury (HgT and MeHg) will be determined in sediment and water. This sampling is part of a study to determine the status of mercury concentrations in fish, sediment, and water in 14 study units nationwide. At a subset of 3 sites, invertebrates will be sampled for stable isotopes. In Fall 2003-4, more detailed sampling will be done at a subset of 3 sites. This sampling will focus on better understanding the effects of source strength, mercury cycling, and food-web interactions on bioaccumulation of mercury in gamefish. HgT and stable isotopes (C and N) will be determined in gamefish; HgT and MeHg will be determined in food chain organisms (forage fish and invertebrates). Microbial methylation efficiency in sediment will be examined with respect to the environmental factors that control this process. HgT and MeHg in water will be determined seasonally. For more information, contact Barb Scudder (em: bscudder@usgs.gov, ph: 608-821-3832).

An Aquatic Gap Analysis project for the Great Lakes States began in Fall 2001 as part of the USGS National Gap Analysis Program. Gap analysis is a program for identifying the degree to which native species and natural communities are represented in present-day conservation lands. Those areas where unique biological communities and conservation lands do not overlap constitute gaps in our conservation efforts. A gap analysis is an approach to biodiversity planning using computer-based geographic information systems to map land cover, conservation areas, aquatic habitat, and species distributions. To accomplish this, the GAP program builds institutional cooperation at the State and Regional level, with projects conducted at the State level. Information from gap analysis may be used to identify and prioritize opportunities to conserve riverine biodiversity; identify information or data gaps; help design and plan sampling strategies for research and monitoring; assist in county, state, and regional planning; and assist with education and outreach. Wisconsin has the opportunity to begin a Statewide Aquatic Gap Analysis Project this year. An initial planning meeting to identify and inform potential cooperators was held in Wausau, Wisconsin on February 27th, 2002. The Wisconsin project will be coordinated by the USGS Water Resources Division in Middleton,WI. For more information contact Jana Stewart (em: jsstewar@usgs.gov, ph: 608-821-3855) or Barb Scudder (em: bscudder@usgs.gov, ph: 608-821-3832).