U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel held a public open house presentation at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center to start the Habitat Management Plan process.  Local residents attended specific presentations to learn about what has been happening on the refuge and how the refuge staff are addressing current questions.

 

Topic:  Overview of the planning process including survey overview

Speaker:  Pam Dryer, Manager, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Ashland FWCO

            Still wondering what this process is all about and why you should be involved?  This session will describe why we are formally writing a habitat management plan, what goes on during the planning process, how your input helps, what the refuge staff hopes to accomplish and how this plan will be used for on-the-ground projects.  Pam will also talk about how data collection and adaptive management play a huge role in the continuing management efforts on the Whittlesey Creek Refuge.  Breeding bird surveys from the past five years will be used as an example.

 

Topic:  Historic Vegetation of the Whittlesey Creek Area

Speaker:  Jim Meeker, Associate Professor of Biology and Natural Resources, Northland College

            Curious to hear about what the landscape in this area looked like before the land was altered?  Jim will provide a historic perspective of our natural landscape and its plants based on his expertise and information from the past.

 

Topic:  River Hydrology:  Dynamics of a river in the landscape

Speakers:  Faith Fitzpatrick, USGS Water Resources Division, Marty Melchoir,
Senior Stream Ecologist with inter-fluve, inc.

            Peak flows, sediment transport, bank erosion, stream power and head-cutting are terms used by geomorphologists (stream experts) as they study stream dynamics.  Hear from these stream experts what we�ve learned about Whittlesey Creek and what we might be able to do about stream restoration.  They promise to present the information in a way that even us biologists can understand!

 

Topic:  Coaster Brook Trout Restoration in Whittlesey Creek

Speaker:  Glenn Miller, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Ashland FWCO

            Do you want to know how coater brook trout and other fish are doing in Whittlesey Creek?  This session will present current information, from the type of fish found in Whittlesey Creek to the future of the experimental stocking of coaster brook trout.  Focus will also be given to the work on the coaster project up until now and what our future plans are.

 

Topic:  Oral History of the Area

Speaker:  Kathleen Hentsch

            Several people from this area of Wisconsin and who have been directly involved with refuge land at some point of their life have shared their stories and knowledge about the area with us.  Let the past come alive through the some of the humorous stories and forgotten facts of the land surrounding Whittlesey Creek.  An ongoing oral history project between community members and refuge staff has led to a wealth of information that we would like to share with you.