Restoration Partnership Erosion Control
Sand, the primary pollutant in most of Michigan’s rivers and streams, was noticeably reducing trout reproduction in the 1970′s. Blame, rightly or not, was attributed to the canoeists who delighted in tobagganing down embankments, destroying vegetation. A streambank inventory was completed in 1985 between The Forks (confluence of the Little South and the Middle Branch of the Pere Marquette River) to Walhalla identifying, measuring and grading each site as to severity.
A proposal was made to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to stabilize and re-vegetate each site. Over a 10 year period beginning in 1986, the MDNR contributed $1,000,000 towards the project and the United States Forest Service (USFS) $440,000 for sites on their lands. A partnership was formed between the following organizations to complete the Restoration Partnership Erosion Control Project.
- Pere Marquette Watershed Council (Chair)
- Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- United States Forest Service
- Mason-Lake Soil Conservation (now NRCS)
- Northwest Michigan RC&D (now Conservation Resource Alliance CRA)
1992 Restoration Float Tour
1992 Restoration Float Tour
Sites were ranked as minor, moderate, or sever and work proceeded downstream, worst first. A total of 172 sites were armoured with field stone riprap and re-vegetated with native shrubs, trees and bushes to block the canoe slides.
1992 Restoration Work
1995 Restoration Work
A total of 23,700 cubic yards of rocks were placed to stabilize the toe of the bank on 30,800 lineal feet of frontage (5.83 miles). The “Last Rock” memorial sits atop the hill overlooking Rainbow Rapids.
Last Rock Ceremony August 1997
Bob Nicholson, Last Rock Ceremony