By Jake Lemon Michigan’s Pere Marquette River offers anglers unique year-round opportunities to fish for a diverse array of salmonid species, including brook trout, brown trout, steelhead, and coho and chinook salmon. Despite healthy overall conditions on the river — a federally designated Wild and Scenic River and a state-designated Natural River and Blue Ribbon Trout Stream — there are opportunities to improve its ecological condition through restoration…
By Matthias Bonzo Last year TU began to implement a project we’re calling “Trout and Trees.” Funded by a grant from the USDA State and Private Forestry – Landscape Scale Restoration Initiative, the project seeks to improve near stream (riparian) habitats coupled with instream habitat work to provide as complete restoration to a degraded site…
Many conservation organizations are great at on-the-ground habitat restoration. Others excel at policy advocacy. Trout Unlimited is one of the few that shine at both. Our recipe for success is simple. We take the results and good will generated by the partnerships, relationships, and in many cases, friendships created through our restoration work, and use…
By Matthias Bonzo Trout Unlimited was part of a multi-partner project this year at an eroding stream bank located along the Manistee River below Tippy Dam in Wellston, Mich. The site, known as the Tunk Hole, was eroding severely due to intense foot traffic from recreational use. This area receives some of the highest angler pressure in…
by Mark Taylor | January 15, 2020 | Science, Community
By Jake Lemon Scientists and anglers throughout the country rely on USGS gaging stations for real-time streamflow and water quality data. Often these stations are located near the mouth of larger rivers forcing data users to extrapolate to understand what is happing in smaller coldwater trout streams. Now, rapidly emerging technologies in open-source electronics are allowing volunteer groups to collect valuable real-time…
By Matthias Bonzo In 2019, TU worked with its partners to complete two road stream crossings in the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan. The crossings were on Boswell Creek, in Manistee County, and on Hinton Creek in Wexford County. Boswell Creek is a tributary of Bear Creek and contains a healthy population of brook trout.…
By Matthias Bonzo The management of mixed-use rivers is always a tough balancing act. Fishermen want to see whole trees and lots of wood in the river to provide habitat for their favorite quarry, while other users such as canoeists and kayakers would like to see less, ensuring a safe time for them and their…