Michigan Wildlife Conservancy Broke New Ground in 2008

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy tackled a wide variety of projects in 2008.  The non-profit organization抯 featured project梐 spawning reef for the threatened lake sturgeon in the lower Detroit River梬as completed in mid-October and broke new ground in international cooperation for fish and wildlife.  The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy joined forces with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, U.S. Geological Survey, BASF Corporation, the Essex Region Conservation Authority (Canada), and others to construct a rock-based 150 by 600-foot habitat along the shore of Fighting Island in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.  The Conservancy抯 $30,000 contribution was the first and only significant U.S. private-sector commitment to the project.  

As U.S. Congressman John Dingell noted, the project marked the first time both Canadian and U.S. money was pooled for a common fish habitat rehabilitation project in the Great Lakes.  The concept of an international effort to build the reef had been around for about 8 years.  Pre-project population studies involving both the U.S. and Canada were completed and much useful information about sturgeon movements, population numbers, and genetics was obtained.  Biologists caught a variety of sizes of sturgeon and found that the pre-historic fish were reproducing in only a few spots in the Huron-Erie waterway.   

The Huron-Erie waterway, which includes Lakes Huron, Erie and St. Clair along with the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, is a unique connection between the upper and lower Great Lakes.  The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge alone has 48 miles of what was once some of North America抯 most productive shoreline for fish and wildlife.  

The Wildlife Conservancy also improved fish habitat on a smaller scale in both peninsulas.  It contributed to a multi-year effort to restore Connor抯 Creek, an important native brook trout nursery stream in Marquette County抯 Dead River watershed.  Last summer crews removed beaver dams, cut excessive stands of tag alders, and placed structures (including 900 brush bundles) to narrow and deepen the stream channel.  The work was in partnership with Trout Unlimited (TU), especially the U.P-based Fred Waara Chapter and the Detroit-area Paul Young Chapter, along with the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy and the Marquette County Conservation District.  

Wildlife Conservancy projects at Tyler, Page, and Bear Creeks in Kent County were completed in partnership with the Timberlands Resource Conservation and Development Area Council with assistance from Trout Unlimited and other organizations.  Tyler Creek, a tributary of the Coldwater River, attracted statewide attention in late July 2006 when a major fish kill occurred.  The exact cause remains uncertain, although warm rains and/or fertilizer runoff were the suspected problems.  The stream has held 15 to 18-inch brown trout and has great potential which the project抯 current deflectors and bank covers will help realize.  Bear and Cage Creeks are tiny, but picturesque streams, with some natural trout reproduction that was boosted by the recent habitat improvement work.  

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy continued its commitment to wetlands restorations with several successful projects on private lands in the southwest part of the state through its Michigan Private Wetlands Program.  That effort, now in its 17^th year, puts water back in drained basins by plugging ditches and drain tiles.  

In addition to our habitat work, the Conservancy made a major effort to educate citizens about problems in the Great Lakes.  The organization published a five-part series that dealt with exotic species, water pollution, warming, water level fluctuations and diseases in the world抯 largest body of fresh water.  The group also conducted forums on wetland conservation in a five-county area of the Northwestern Lower Peninsula.  

The Wildlife Conservancy took on one of the biggest threats ever to Michigan抯 natural resources梩he spread of wild hogs.  Wild hogs, many of Eurasian stock, have been escaping from commercial game ranches in Michigan for at least a decade, and have now been confirmed in at least 63 of Michigan抯 83 counties.  

The wild hogs are mostly in small bands of fewer than 20 animals.  They have dispersed many miles from the game ranches and are reproducing.  State officials have little information on how many are roaming the landscape, but have already received hog-caused crop and forest damage reports in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.  Biologists recently noted damage in the Pigeon River Country State Forest and state land in Marquette County.  

And in May, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) confirmed pseudorabies virus (PRV) in free-roaming hogs in Saginaw and Gratiot Counties as well as in several commercial ranches.  That disease is a huge threat to Michigan抯 domestic swine industry, and the MDA, with help from the DNR and the federal government, hurriedly mobilized to enforce quarantines, test animals for diseases, and eliminate infected hogs.   

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy was active in a state-organized feral swine working group and held two free educational events in September 2008 aimed at increasing awareness about our state抯 growing problem with wild hogs.  The organization brought in the nation抯 foremost expert on wild hogs, Dr. John Mayer, of South Carolina, to help address issues related to the rapid spread of the animals.  

Also in 2008, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy released recommendations for localized deer population control that may help some cities, townships and private landowners cope with deer damage.  The Conservancy抯 recommendations for controlling deer numbers at unfenced nature centers, parks, or other areas with high deer concentrations and habitat damage, along with additional information and the rationale behind the guidelines can be found at http://miwildlife.org/deer.asp.

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