MAINSTREAM

We haven't had a chance to bring you all the news from the P.M. valley so this is a letter to bring you up to date.

* At our annual banquet last July the membership elected Carolyn Henne to the Board replacing Steve Fraley who stepped down because of business activities. Carolyn, a native of Wisconsin, comes to us from a S.E. Michigan academic position, at the time of her husband's retirement. Mike McKinney resigned from the Board at the end of the year because of increasing responsibilities at West Shore Community College; Mike will continue to oversee the students' water quality monitoring for us.

The banquet and auctions netted our organization $8,350, with our Cast for Conservation " Tournament adding another $4,415. The boat raffle, won by Bob Cardiff of Plainwell, netted us an additional $1,500. Dave Gibbs is putting together another special raffle to consider with this summer's banquet (July 17th & mark your calendar). Any members interested in fishing in our C4C contest can discuss details with Bob Kennedy.

* The Restoration Committee announced completion of seven erosion control projects on the Baldwin River upstream of Foreman Road. Over 240' were stabilized with trees, 455' of platform, and 490 cubic yards of rock were installed to protect 970 feet of riverbank. Efforts during 2004 will focus on the Baldwin below Foreman and downstream of the M-37 bridge. The Restoration Committee is also involved in plans to repair or replace the Village of Baldwins Stormwater drain. Currently the rainwater and snow melt flow through the street drains to a small catch basin located behind the Forest Service office. A very small holding tank is supposed to trap solid debris, but following the Troutarama event, thousands of cigarette filters clog the catch basin, with the overflow water being discharged directly into the Baldwin River. Soil and water samples have revealed chemical contamination, but it likely is a result of buildup over a matter of many years. Preliminary discussions indicate a desire to prevent any direct discharge into the river with an option to relocate a much improved trap much further downstream & west of M-37 and south of the high school. Obviously the cost for this proposal greatly exceeds the cleaning and reconstruction of the existing drain, however. The The opportunity exists for greatly improving the water quality of the Baldwin. It makes little sense for the Restoration Committee to find funding and repair habitat if the storm drain system continues to discharge pollutants directly into the river.

* We've just completed the second year of our Riparian Rehabilitation Pilot Project, an effort to support private river frontage owners who wish to repair or protect a riverbank problem (the rehab program is for the river, not the riparian). A grant from Dow Chemical is being matched with funds from the Council, landowners, and others as an encouragement to fix a potential problem (slouching bank, leaning tree, logjam, etc.) before it becomes unmanageable. If you are interested in getting professional help and financial assistance for a place on your riverfront contact Fred McLane, Paul Bigford, or Ken Sink. Most of the work will be done by the National Resources Con- servation Service (formerly Soil Conservation) out of their Scottville or Reed City offices.

* The responsibility for operation of the Custer Weir lamprey barrier and fish passage ladder has transferred from Ellie Koon to Greg Klingler at the Fish & Wildlife Service's Marquette office. Greg provides the following summary of 2003's activity: During the 2003 season, the electric weir on the Pere Marquette River was operated March 20 through July 28. The fish ladder was operated March 20 through July 10, except during July 4-6. The weir was staffed by four Fish & Wildlife personnel; working two person crews, two eight hour shifts. With few exceptions, all species passing the fish ladder were hand counted from 6:30 am until 10:00 pm when the fish ladder was operating. The video camera was operated 24/7 from March 24 through May 12. Set up time and computer problems resulted in no video count during the remainder of the season.

A total of 7,119 steelhead (5,965, hand counted during day; 970, night video count; 184, night estimated when video down), 130 brown trout, 62 longnose sucker, 264 redhorse, and 4,840 white sucker passed through the PM fish ladder during 2003. A total of 187 sea lampreys were captured at the weir. The use of video capture software to count fish passing the ladder was moderately successful. When working properly, the fish ladder could be operated without staff to count fish. This This year staffing was reduced from 6 to 4 personnel. A software glitch ceased video capture on May 12, and bubbles caused the software to capture many frames with no fish, resulting in considerably more time to review the files and count fish. Modifications to the ladder and a newer version of the software will reduce these problems.

The electrical barrier field had some weak (low voltage) areas this year. When the weir was shut down for the season, inspections revealed four badly deteriorated electrodes. These electrodes were replaced in August, greatly increasing the strength of the electrical field, bringing it up to targeted voltages.

Electrofishing surveys found 4 larval sea lampreys upstream of the barrier. Two of the lampreys were definitely residuals, which survived the 2002 treatment. Judging from size, the other two may be young of year (2003) or late hatched residuals from 2002. Considering the condition of the electrical field, these surveys were very good news.

Operation of the weir during the 2004 season will be similar to 2003. A new version of the video capture software and modifications to the ladder will reduce labor cost and result in accurate and timely fish passage numbers.

* We received several notes regarding the last Mainstream devoted to completion of the Big South project. One correction was pointed out to us by an observant member: The first sentence states PMWC is a 501c3 non-profit conservative organization; while that may or may not be true, we are more usually referred to as a conservation organization. We apologize for any smirks this may have invoked. Since completion of the study, the U.S. Forest Service has removed the Gowell Dam, immediately downstream from the largest of the artificial riffle sites that were installed. This has prompted minor adjustments to the riffles and likely will require continued observation and tailoring to accommodate changing water flows. This proves our contention that the project will require ongoing maintenance to fine tune the construction for maximum efficiency.

* The brief article on "Sand" prompted several members to write notes of thanks and questions regarding details. We appreciate your interest and I appreciate hearing from you. Without feedback we just can't tell if anyone is interested in what we are doing & or if they are even reading it. So keep up your contacts & let us know your thoughts & tell us what you want us to look into. It's your Council.

* Jim Bos' letter accompanying the November newsletter brought in over $1,000 to kick off our Endowment. Proceeds from your contributions will be used for projects that crop up quickly and are not budgeted for. The analysis of the soil and water samples taken at the catch basin are an example of something requiring quick funding; we acknowledge and appreciate your continuing support!

* Lastly, we'd like to make you aware of a project which may have a significant impact on the future of our river: Last October the U.S. Forest Service announced its intention of updating the P.M. River Plan. The law which designates the mainstream as Scenic requires periodic reviews which led to the update in 1990 and a users and landowners' summary in 1998. The process to be used to update the plan is termed the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) and will likely take 12-18 months to finalize. The LAC is a six step process: 1.) Identify those concerns, issues, and goals that users and owners have expressed, agreeing that some goals may be in conflict; 2.) Realize that all goals must be compromised to some extent; 3.) Decide which goal(s) will ultimately constrain the others by determining their effects on one another; 4.) Define minimum standards and indicators of goal achievement; 5.) Establish that the ultimately constraining goal(s) can only be compromised until the minimum standard is reached (the limit of acceptable change); 6.) Put into effect predetermined restrictions to limit negative changes and restore desired conditions. The Forest Service elected to use this process because if recreation as a use of the river is going to be allowed, then deterioration is inevitable and must be accepted. Although impacts must be accepted, limits must be placed on the level to be tolerated; and when these limits are reached, steps should be taken to prevent further negative change and to reverse negative impacts. The indicators and standards (step #4) are very important as they provide quantitative trends in meeting goals, and indicate whether desired conditions are being met or if corrective action is needed. The MSU survey in 1998 found that both visitors and riparian landowners shared many of the same concerns (albeit not necessarily ranked the same). These included water quality, fish populations, litter, public access, number of river users, level of regulation, sense of personal security, conflicts, increased guiding/drift boats, trespass, erosion, and more. The Watershed Council Board discussed the issues in November and notified the Forest Service of those topics which we feel need to be addressed: Water Quality - Maintain current high water quality, which includes minimizing erosion/sedimentation, and increasing shore vegetation. Establish processes and standards necessary to monitor water quality and establish scheduled time frames when testing will be done. Over-Utilization - Reduce noise, litter, and trespass activity and intoxication demeanor. Reduce commercial canoe activity so as to limit damage to woody debris assets and spawning habitat locations (cut narrow passages; stop cutting/trimming tag alders overhanging banks). Re-evaluate permitting process including allocations for canoe livery and guide services. Encourage one-person float vessels as opposed to rafts and canoes for liveries. Consider redistribution of final permit totals across longer lengths of river, i.e. spread folks out including use of river segments between Walhalla and Scottville. Expand the dates wherein special use permits are required, i.e. before May, after September ( to cover spring steelhead and fall salmon runs). Restrict further the current watercraft use hours of 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Enforce one guide-one license permit policy ( to prevent more than one boat/license at any one time). Fishing Pressure - Prohibit illegitimate commercial use by non- permitted guides. Discourage creation of more access sites and discourage hardening of existing sites (new sites increase usage, dont necessarily disseminate existing users, and paving increases runoff). Enforcement - Increase funding and manpower for DNR and USFS activities as well as look for new funding sources (current enforcement is understaffed). Physically monitor river traffic with part-time non-arrest-powered personnel (increased surveillance necessary to measure usage and limits). Strive for unified management approach between agencies (Memo of Understanding - 1980 - requires coordination). Review multiple/shared users of single residences: DNR-Natural Rivers (control the proliferation of single cabins being converted into clubs). Consider reducing catch limits and/or evoking slot limits (provide for a quality experience and give the river a rest). The Watershed Council realizes that not all goals will be acceptable to all users and riparians, and will work for reasonable compromises to protect the river and avoid irreversible degradation of the resource. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Forest Service on achieving these goals.

Dick Schwikert

Scribe