Gilbert Creek (WI)

Gilbert Creek, a small spring-fed stream characteristic of western Wisconsin, is the focus of a three year project led by TU's Ojibleau Chapter. Like many Driftless Area streams, the Gilbert Creek valley is layered with tons of silt that eroded from the hillsides last century. The river corridor was lined with invasive tree species, also limiting the native brook trout habitat by preventing native prairie grasses from stabilizing the banks. Ojibleau organized work nights to cut and remove the trees on over 2 miles of stream over the course of three years. They coordinated with local school groups, university classes and farmers to broaden the interest in trout streams. During the summers of 2003-2005, every Tuesday night became a work party along sites at Gilbert Creek, where dedicated volunteers worked to reshape the stream banks and install in-stream habitat such as plunge pools and lunker structures. With the banks reseeded with native plants and mulched with straw, the result of the project is a stream that has now far more productive trout habitat, less erosion, and a more stable channel and bank vegetation. Embrace-A-Stream grants, local TU involvement and other chapter assistance, as well as DNR cooperation led to the success of this model for other Driftless restorations.