A bighead carp has been found in Illinois’ Lake Calumet, about six miles north of an electric barrier set up to stop the invasive fish from entering the Great Lakes. More on woodtv.com >> The group StopAsianCarp.com is a good avenue for voicing your concerns. You can find them at www.stopasiancarp.com and on Facebook. ACTION: Call President Obama immediately at 202-456-1414 and urge him to take serious action to protect the Great Lakes today. The White House needs to understand how devastating Asian carp will be to the Great Lakes way of life.
Job posting: Project manager for Rogue River Home Rivers Initiative
Trout Unlimited wants to hire someone to make things happen on the Rogue River! Trout Unlimited (TU) is North America’s leading coldwater fisheries conservation organization, conserving, protecting and restoring rivers and watersheds for trout and salmon. TU’s Home Rivers Initiative program was created in 1996 to perform collaborative, science-based watershed-scale restoration on coldwater rivers. To date, more than 20 Home Rivers projects have been initiated or completed across the country. The Rogue River in western Michigan is the site of TU’s newest Home Rivers Initiative project. It is a short drive north of Grand Rapids, Michigan and is an extremely...
DNRE to Hold Statewide Public Meetings on Proposed Changes to Trout Regulations
The Department of Natural Resource and Environment is planning a series of statewide public meetings on proposed changes to trout fishing regulations to give anglers a chance to provide input on the draft plan. A copy of the draft plan is available online to review here. A year ago, the DNRE’s Fisheries Division presented a proposal to the public for modifying regulations governing fishing for trout on Michigan’s streams. After extensive public solicitation for response to the proposals, a decision was made in the fall of 2009 to move forward only with combining existing Type 5, 6, and 7 streams...
Notice of Annual Meeting
The annual Board of Director’s meeting of Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited will occur on Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at Wa Wa Sum Lodge, Grayling, Michigan. This is also the weekend of the annual member’s gathering. The election of of board officers and members will occur at the meeting. You can use the following information to vote for candidates for board members. Nominations for board members are: __ Tom Mundt __ Don Messinger __ Dave Smith __ Rich Steketee __ Dick Smith __ Larry Risbridger __ Mark Montpetit __ Write-in candidate You can vote for as many...
SIC – Calvin Christian Students Release Salmon
On May 25th, the Grand River became home for 35 salmon compliments of the Salmon-in-the-Classroom program from Mike Hoekwater’s Biology class. Mr. Hoekwater was the first teacher to take advantage of the Schrems SIC program offering; this marks the fourth consecutive year Mr. Hoekwater have offered SIC. These are the other schools we’ve supported by way a $1000 grant for purchasing need equipment for the Salmon-in-the-Classroom program: Hopkins Middle, Lowell HS, Goodwille Environmental (Forest Hills) and West Michigan Academy of Environmental Sciences. Two additional SIC programs are scheduled foe funding in school-year 2010-11: Lamont Christian and Belding HS.
River Keeper Program Kicks-Off Second Year
Our Schrems River Keeper program kicked-off for 2010 on May 8th. Volunteers (l-r) George Buursma, Josh Zuiderveen, Jim Flamming (‘Chief River Keeper’), Gary Winlow, Ryan Burke and Rich Brand gathered monitoring data from the six devises that remained in the Rogue River system through the winter. Also, new ‘loggers’ (monitoring device) were installed in: Barkley Creek, Shaw Creek and Cedar Creek. Loggers are also scheduled for installation on Penyer Creek (Muskegon watershed) and Buck Creek which runs through Grand Rapids. Look for more detailed information and actual data to follow.
Trout Spit Cellars
It was late afternoon, a Friday. I was working on my third glass of Italian Barolo, a medium bodied red, visiting with friends around our office conference table. “What made you take up wine making? I’m sure it isn’t an abundance of spare time,” Rick, a friend and fellow trout fisherman asked, cradling a glass of Cabernet. “That’s true. But a guy can only tie so many flies during the winter before he goes blind or acquires a permanent hand cramp. Another night scrunched over my tying bench could disrupt my already questionable sanity.” It was a good question. What...
Asian Carp update from Michigan TU
The following note comes from the Michigan TU Conservation Committee … “Here is some important information for TU members and chapters regarding efforts to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin. As you may have heard in the news recently, the US Supreme Court dismissed the last of the lawsuits filed by Attorney General Mike Cox, refusing to review the nearly 100 year old court decision which allowed the water diversion at Chicago that became what is now the Sanitary and Shipping Canal. So, where do we go from here?
Summer Work Schedule – Volunteers Needed!
Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited Summer 2010 Conservation Project Schedule Coldwater River The Schrems chapter has been blessed with two large grants for river restoration and habitat improvement on the Coldwater River. We have received a $20,000 grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and another grant for $40,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We have partnered up with the Coldwater River Watershed Council, the Kent County Drain Commissioner and FTC&H on this project. We will be restoring and adding habitat to 2,500 feet of stream on the Dolan Property. This will be a large woody debris...
SWMTU looks to turn barren stretch of Coldwater River into trout haven
From Sunday’s Grand Rapids Press Victor Skinner | The Grand Rapids Press FREEPORT — The Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited chapter plans to transform a featureless 2,500-foot stretch of Coldwater River into ideal trout habitat using recent grants. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes program awarded the chapter $40,750, and another $20,000 grant came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners in Fish and Wildlife program. The funds will be used to bury numerous 18-inch tree trunks along a barren section of riverbed east of the Baker Avenue bridge near Freeport. The project, funded and...