President’s Message July 2001

The northwoods are very green and damp as I write this – the river is trying to recover from a record May rainfall. The cool and wet conditions have put a crimp on the Mayfly hatches up till now. Hopefully, better conditions are coming.

The PMWC has had another active year – I’ll share some highlights: - Bob Kennedy has joined the Board of Directors. Bob is a retired school administrator now living in the Branch area. - Jan Potter’s term on the board was completed. Jan did an outstanding job chairing the banquet the past three years. - Fred McLane was appointed to the remaining two years of Dick Esenwein’s term; Fred has recently constructed a retirement log cabin on the Big South Branch. - The 2000 Cast for Conservation was very successful with 16 teams (32 anglers) participating. Steve Fraley again coordinated the event. - We’ve rebuilt and updated our website (peremarquette.org). - The new trout/salmon regulations have been in effect for one year. The feedback from DNR law enforcement is that the first year went very well. “No-Kill” for the Flies-Only water and creel limit of 5 on the non-restricted water was well accepted. - The Board of Directors established long-range planning priorities. The top 4 items in order of priority are: 1.) Brown trout population decline. 2.) Recreational use impacts/overutilization. 3.) Bank stabilization/erosion control. 4.) Land-use planning. The board will be keeping these priorities in mind when making decisions on future projects. We welcome any input from the membership regarding these priorities.

Our major ongoing project continues to be the Big South Branch Habitat Improvement Project funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust. We’ve completed 3-1/2 years of the 5 year project. Construction is >95% completed – a small amount of work remains due to difficulties in availability of the TU Sand Sweeper hydraulic dredge. High water would have been an ideal test for the natural oxbow traps which need to be cleaned by the dredge. We’re very encouraged by the success of the artificial riffles in hosting spawning steelhead and salmon. Our data acquisition continues in order to determine the success of the spawning activity. We hope to be able to continue monitoring the Big South sites beyond the time frame of the current GLFT project – we’ll keep you informed of development in this regard.

We’ve also been successful in obtaining a grant from the Fremont Foundation to install an additional riffle in Cedar Creek, a Big South Branch tributary in northern Newaygo county. This grant will allow us to utilize excess stone from the GLFT riffles and put it to work in the stream. We expect the additional riffle to be completed this summer barring any unforeseen contractor or permit hangups. Many thanks to the Fremont Foundation for funding this additional work beyond the scope of the GLFT project.

The Ruby Creek Interpretive Center is nearing completion. The pavilion has been constructed and the interpretive materials should be in place this summer. We anticipate a dedication during September ’01. The Interpretive Center portion of the project has been managed by the Ruby Creek Recreation and Conservation Club in cooperation with PMWC.

The education portion of the Big South project is progressing as well. Dr. .Claudia Douglas from CMU has drafted classroom and field curricula which are being reviewed by Intermediate School District staff. Once finalized, we expect these documents to be published and distributed for use in the local schools this Fall.

The Custer lamprey barrier weir was turned on April 5 this spring – again later than anticipated due to problems with the contractor (multiple factors). Stray voltage was hampering fish passage at start-up, but was quickly addressed. Following correction of the stray voltage 4700 steelhead, 3100 white suckers, and 2300 redhorse negotiated the passage device during April/May operation. Fish passage was visually counted by 24/7 observation. We’ve been promised the observation window and video camera device will be installed in the passageway this summer and tested during this fall’s salmon run. It is not clear yet whether another lampricide (TFM) treatment will be required; the USFWS will be collecting data over the next couple of years to make this determination. PMWC concerns regarding blockage of outmigration of post spawners and resultant overharvest during 2000 operation were addressed by DNR Fisheries with the closure of the river to fishing from the weir upstream to the mouth of Black Creek during weir operation. Degree of hold-up of out migration this spring was difficult to assess due to high water conditions during much of the period.

The issue of chumming in the Flies-Only section was taken to the Natural Resources Commission in September 2000 by PMWC and the Michigan Resource Stewards. The prohibition of this practice was vigorously endorsed by late Commissioner Jerry Bartnik. Following full commission approval in November ’00, a rule prohibiting use and possession of bait in Categories 5, 6, and 7 streams (fly and artificial only) was included in 2001 fishing digest.

Aquatic Species Conservation Act/House Bill 4150 introduced by Rep. Susan Tabor has undergone 2 revisions at the time of this writing and is still in the House Conservation Committee. The ASCA would codify existing statutes without changing current regulation, and would shift responsibility for drafting and creating management orders for aquatic species from the legislature into the hands of trained scientific professionals of the DNR, where decisions could be based on sound biological principles. PMWC supports the legislation contingent upon requiring NRC approval for all regulation changes except interim (emergency) orders issued by the DNR director, which provides a balance to the authority of the director and for public input at the NRC level.

PMWC is participating on the advisory committee for creation of a DEQ-approved Watershed Management Plan headed by Kim Kook of the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) and funded by a Federal 319 grant to CRA. The plan should be completed this summer and it is hoped the Pere Marquette River would then be eligible for Clean Michigan Initiative monies in the next round of grants. The remainder of the 319 grant will be used to redesign, replace, or rebuild 8 road-stream crossings in the PM watershed to more environmentally-friendly standards. The road-stream crossing work from this grant should be completed in 2002.

The Bell sandtrap on the Little South Branch was cleaned by the DNR in early May with removal of 780 cubic yards of sand. PMWC hired 2 dump trucks and 3 drivers at the cost of $1100 to support the DNR’s efforts. This is your donation money at work in the watershed once again.

Beginning with the fall 2001 issue of your quarterly Mainstream newsletter, editorial responsibility will shift from Dick Schwikert to Rick Conney. We’re confident Rick’s work will continue the high standards set by Dick over the past 7 years. Many thanks, Dick, for an outstanding job of keeping the membership informed.

Our Annual Banquet/Cast for Conservation is scheduled for July 14 and the banquet will again be held at Lands Inn on US-10 in Ludington. This is our only fundraising event for the year and we encourage you to attend. Dave Gibbs is chairing the banquet this year and will have many items and prizes for auction and raffle. Dan Pearson, DNR Administrator of the Natural Rivers Program will be our guest speaker. Hope to see you there!

Jim Bos President