MAINSTREAM Reporting on the Current of the Pere Marquette Watershed Council Winter 2009 In This Issue: PM River Clean-up page 1 ORV Legislation Update page 2 by Paul Bigford Tank Creek Dam Project page 3 Director Information page 4 Ferris State University Honors Program students volunteer for PM River clean-up photo by Jill Engelman Volunteers Sweep River Clean Sweetwater Township in Lake County, through PMWC President Paul Bigford, sought a grant earlier this year to be used to complete a PM River clean-up project. Michigan’s Volunteer Riv­er, Stream and Creek Cleanup Program provided the grant to Sweetwater Township in late summer. PMWC facilitated the project along with assis­tance from the Ferris State University (FSU) Hon­ors Program, Sweetwater Township, the Baldwin US Forest Service and Baldwin Canoe Rental. Saturday, September 27th twenty-one college stu­dents in ten canoes floated the Pere Marquette River from M-37 Access to the Upper Branch Bridge. They collected an assortment of litter ranging from non-deposit bottles to a lawn chair. The grant made it possible to provide the honor students with litter-pickers, breakfast, snack sup­plies and complimentary tee-shirts. The USFS donated garbage bags and collected the litter from the various landings while Baldwin Canoe Rental made it all possible with the donation of the canoes. This is not the first time FSU Honors Students have volunteered time to an environmental proj­ect in the PM River Watershed. In 2006 thirty-two honor students assisted PMWC in rock placement along the streambank of the PM River at Custer Park. This “Rock’n’ Roll” project stabilized the bank to eliminate further erosion and promote the growth of vegetation. On another campus, students will be assisting with fish surveys in the spring. Mike McKinney of West Shore Community College has involved students in PMWC projects for several years. Both col­leges encourage young people to become active in environmental issues and, whenever PMWC is able, the Board of Directors invite students to par­ticipate in our projects. ORV ISSUE MOVES TO TOWNSHIPS..... The Michigan legislature passed an Off Road Ve­hicle (ORV) law in 2008. The law does not provide any funding to erect signs, implement, enforce or maintain roadways impacted by the law. The new law also fails to provide funding for environmental damage to wetlands, stream crossings, etc. The ORV law passes these obligation and costs to the counties and townships. The intent of the new law is to increase use of quads and other ORVs on public roads, hopeful­ly increasing tourism and allowing people to visit neighbors, commute to work and the store, and recreate on any county road. An increase in visi­tors to Lake County is predicted. Golf carts, dirt bikes, etc. are not included in the new law. ORVs would operate on the right hand side of the road (paved and gravel). Children as young as 12 could operate ORVs, if within sight of an adult. ORVs could operate 24 hours a day. Speeds are limited to 25 miles per hour and riders would not be allowed to venture off county roads. The new law does not impact private property or the private roads in platted areas. The law is NOT in effect in Lake County until the County Commission acts! The new law prohibits ORVs on US-10/M-37 and all State/USFS forest roads and lands. USFS roads include all numbered roads through USFS lands that are not Lake County Road Commission (LCRC) maintained roads. In addition, the new law allows the LCRC to close up to 30% of the roads in each township to ORVs. USFS rangers can only enforce ORV rules on ORV TRAILS. ORV enforcement would come out of the Police Road Patrol budget. As an example, the cost of adding one officer for ORV enforcement on a 24 hour basis is $250,000 per year or about $50 per year on a $100,000 SEV property. Non-property owners (tourists/guests) would not pay for ORV enforcement. Opponents argue that the new ORV law will lead to excess noise, dust, environmental damage and trespass due to ORV users venturing off county roads and down two-tracks to explore. Others ar­gue that children will be killed due to sharing the road with cars and trucks. The MDNR has notified townships that ORV misuse prior to the law has already threatened Forest Certification (the abil­ity to market Michigan timber). The MDNR ORV handbook warns against riding these machines on roadways and most ORVs come equipped with warning stickers to not operate the machines on roadways. The new law does not require insur­ance for ORVs, so most riders will be uninsured motorists riding at great risk. Conflicts could oc­cur among hunters, fishermen and other “passive” outdoor users and ORV riders. Others worry about trespass issues from those ORV users who do not respect existing ORV regulations. The Lake County Board of Commissioners will be considering the issue at their February meet­ing. It is thought that the law will be passed and handed down to the township level for individual adoption. Township Boards will be deciding this issue within the next month. They can open all roads, close all roads or open some roads. Writ­ten comments addressed your township board will assist in their deliberations. If you have an opinion on this matter PMWC encourages you to voice it during the month of January. Write any township board member. For more information: DNR site - www.michigan.gov/documents/Letter­ToOff-RoadVehicleUsers_157641_7.pdf Pro-ORV site - www.lakecountymichigan.com/pages/orv.php Anti-ORV site - www.lucecountyorvdamage.com For your convenience we have included an insert within this newsletter to aid you in determining the appropriate township for your residence (perma­nent or seasonal) as well as listing names and addresses for those on township boards. Please refer to this when writing your comment letters. Our previous letter campaign in October written by riparians in Lake County paid off. Our collective voice was heard. But we need to follow up again - as they say the “squeaky wheel gets the grease”. Speak up for our Environment! View looking downstream of the dam at the east branch of Tank Creek illustrating the sediment washed into the stream - Summer 2008 photo by Paul Bigford Dam Failure Imminent! A small dam on Tank Creek, a feeder stream to the Pere Marquette River in western Lake County, has breached twice in the last year. After heavy rain events water flow caused a deep gully to be cut across the dam in two places. Currently the entire flow of the creek is moving through the dam body itself, rather than the overflow pipe designed to perform that function. Sediment is washing into the outflow stream at an alarming rate. If the con­dition of the dam is not addressed prior to the next high-water event, possibly in Spring of 2009, it is very likely that the dam will fail completely result­ing in detrimental impact downstream. If the dam is blown and the large impoundment of water in the pond is allowed to flow to the PM River mul­tiple problems may occur. In it’s path the stream now crosses under a county road and a railroad crossing - both will be vulnerable. This is in addi­tion to the disbursement of sediment and overall flooding of the area. Members of the Pere Marquette Watershed Coun­cil approached the private landowner and Kim Balke with Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) this past summer. The landowner voiced that he was interested in removing the dam to resolve the environmental concerns at hand. Following review of the site with engineers and contractors, Kim requested cost proposals and sought grants from various sources to assist in the dam removal. The winning bid for the project came in at $30,000 from contractor Tom Knoop, of which $20,000 will paid from grants secured by CRA, $5,000 from the landowner, and the final $5,000 from PMWC. Work was to have begun in this fall, but with the early snowfall in November the project has been pushed to late winter, when access to the area will be possible and hazardous conditions to the equipment and operators will be lessened. Many such dams were built in the watershed in the 1940-50’s. Owners desiring private ponds did not understand the long-term concerns and re­sponsibilities of these structures. In the case of the Tank Creek Dam, consideration was made to make repairs to the dam, but costs were estimated the same or higher than for it’s removal. The outflow stream of the dam had been previous­ly electro shocked by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and was found to support an excellent population of reproducing salmon, rain­bow and brown trout. Once the dam is removed, the water temperature should further cool provid­ing for even better conditions for trout. Stream restoration will be completed in Spring. PMWC BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Paul Bigford, Pesident Fred McLane, Vice President Jill Engelman, Secretary Jay Barnhart, Treasurer DIRECTORS Jim Bos Jeff Carpenter Rick Conney Steve Fraley Dave Gabrielson Ken Gibbs Eric Lewis Kevin Morlock Dick Schwikert Tom Seroczynski Grant Snider Chuck Turk Board Welcomes New Member.... On November 1st the PMWC Board of Directors’ appointed local riparian Ken Gibbs to serve the remainder of an open director term through July of 2009. Ken lives on the Flies Only Water of the Pere Marquette River with his wife Shari. Their two sons are attending colleges down state. Ken is an avid fly fisherman and environmentalist and is concerned for the heath of the watershed. As a Life Member of PMWC, Ken and his family have previously assisted the Council in activities. We ask that you welcome Ken as he provides new input and expertise to your Board of Directors. More than just attend meetings..... In addition to being a PMWC member or Board of Director, many folks chair various committees or act as liaisons that make our organization work for you. Paul Bigford - Natural River Zoning Review Board Chair, Lake County Riverside Property Owners Assoc. Liaison, Riparian Rehab Co-Chair, Hazardous Material Collection Bd. Member Fred McLane - Nominating Committee Chair, USFS Liaison, Riparian Rehab Co-Chair, Restoration Com­mittee Chair Jill Engelman - Mainstream Newsletter Editor, Annual Banquet Chair, Webmaster, Office Manager Jay Barnhart - Investment Advisor, Membership Chair Jim Bos - MDNR Liaison, Endowment Chair, ROW Trimming Liaison, Citizens Advisory - Lake MI Fisher­ies Committee Jeff Carpenter - Trout Unlimited Liaison Rick Conney - Volunteer Committee Chair, River Clean-up Chair Steve Fraley - Retail Liaison, C4C Assistance Dave Gabrielson - WSCC Liaison, Lincoln River Proj. Ken Gibbs - Grass Lake Sand Trap Research Eric Lewis - Legal Rep., ORV Committee Member, Turk Sand Trap Chair, CAFO & Water Withdrawal Advocate Kevin Morlock - Michigan River Guides Assoc. Liaison Dick Schwikert - Bell Sand Trap Chair, Unified Mgt. Chair, Restoration Committee Member, Baldwin Stormdrain Liaison Tom Seroczynski - USF&W Liaison, Custer Weir Lia. Grant Snider - Restoration Projects Chair, FSU Liaison Chuck Turk - Quality Trout Water Advocate, Natural River Zoning Review Board Member Tom Curtin - Cast for Conservation Chair, Natural River Zoning Review Board Member Jim Schramm - Federation of Fly Fishers Liaison Pere Marquette Watershed Council, P.O. Box 212, Baldwin, Michigan 49304 www.peremarquette.org