Citizens can weigh in on a proposal that would remove the Otter Tail Power Dam on the Red Lake River at Crookston, Minnesota, a measure that would improve safety and fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage on the river, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the City of Crookston.
The proposal is to remove the dam and construct a rock rapids upstream to provide for fish passage while maintaining much of the pool that now exists behind the dam. Bank stabilization will also be a part of the project.
The Service is considering funding a small portion of this dam removal project and is looking for public comments as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Historic Preservation Act.
The Service does not anticipate the need to develop an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment under NEPA for this proposed project. However, the agency expects an environmental assessment would be prepared to analyze the overall and cumulative impacts of removing any remaining fish barriers if it funds additional, similar projects on the Red Lake River or in the Red River system. The Service is interested in public concerns with this specific project and whether the public sees a need for the development of a NEPA document for the project.
The proposed dam removal is also being reviewed by the Service under the National Historic Preservation Act. The Service is seeking information on archeological sites, buildings, structures, historic places, cemeteries, and traditional uses in the area around, upstream and downstream of Otter Tail Power Dam.
A questionnaire on the impacts of this project is available on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website at michael_hoff@fws.gov ; or via fax to: 612-713-5289. Comments are due by the close of business on March 8, 2004.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
