The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Fisheries Program and partners in 19 states will spend a combined $7.4 million this year to remove or bypass more than 150 barriers to 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 .
The popular National Fish Passage Program enlists municipal, state, tribal and other federal agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations, to open habitat in the nation’s streams and rivers by removing or bypassing dams and other obstructions as well as improving or replacing culverts under roads or railroad tracks. Partner participation is strictly voluntary.
In the Service’s Midwest Region, 12 projects in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin will open more than 129 miles of stream to fish passage. The Fisheries program will spend $418,000 while partners will contribute another $1.3 million in cash and in-kind support to these projects.
Many small dams set for removal or bypass date back to the American and Industrial Revolutions. Many were built to accommodate early barge traffic, or provide power or irrigation to a fledgling economy. As all uses were superseded by other, more efficient systems, the dams were left abandoned, providing no function other than fragmenting habitat and dampening fish populations.
Completion of the 2005 projects will open more than 1,500 miles of waterways and more than 5,000 acres nationwide, allowing fish to access a considerable amount of important historic spawning and rearing habitats that were unavailable for years.
“ The National Fish Passage Program is a model for similar programs,” said Matt Hogan, Acting Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. “We not only have a long list of partners, we have a long waiting list of partners anxious to get on board. And because they all share in the cost, taxpayer dollars go a long, long way. Everybody – and nearly every fish – is a winner.”
Fish Passage Program funds have been allocated to the following projects in the Midwest:
Illinois:
Brewster Creek Dam Removal, Kane County: Removal of two barriers will open 10 stream miles of fish habitat- $68,276
Michigan:
Oxbow Road on Oxbow Creek Fish Passage Restoration, Cheboygan County: Culvert renovation will open 7.5 stream miles of fish habitat- $27,000Kisser Road Crossing on Gillis Creek,
Cheboygan County: Culvert renovation will open 4.5 miles of habitat for fish passage- $32,000
Butterfly Creek/Little Manistee River, Lake County: A culvert will be constructed to open a mile of stream habitat- $20,000Silver Creek Road Crossing on Little Ocqueoc River, Presque Isle County: Culvert renovation will open 5.5 miles of stream habitat- $26,000
Pine Drive Crossing on South Branch of Au Sable River, Roscommon County: Culvert renovation will open 9.5 miles of stream habitat- $45,000
Anderson Creek/Big Manistee River, Wexford County: Five miles of stream habitat will be opened after a culvert renovation- $57,200
Wisconsin:
Trout Brook in the Bad River Watershed, Ashland County: Twenty miles of stream habitat will be opened through culvert renovation- $7,344.86
Silver Creek in the Bad River Watershed, Ashland County: Installation of a fish passage structure will restore 23 miles of fish passage- $41,655.14
Jefferson Dam Removal, Rock River, Jefferson County: Removal of a dam will open 30 miles of stream to fish passage- $60,840
Vaughn Creek, Iron County: A culvert renovation will open more than 11 miles of stream habitat to fish passage- $20,000
Four Hill Flowage Dam Removal, Rusk County: Removal of a dam will open 2.5 miles of fish passage- $13,520
Since 1871, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries Program has played a vital role in conserving and managing native fish and other aquatic resources. The Fisheries Program focuses its efforts on achieving its long-term strategic vision of protecting the health of aquatic habitats, restoring fish and other aquatic species, and providing opportunities for the American public to enjoy the benefits of healthy aquatic resources. For more information about the Fisheries Program, go to http://fisheries.fws.gov.
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 resource 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.
