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Little Manistee River
Improvements - By Dave McIntire
Many may not be aware that eggs taken from wild steelhead at the Little
Manistee weir are reared and stocked all over Michigan and other
states. This is Michigan’s department of Natural Resources sole source
for steelhead eggs. This being said, it is important to all of us who
enjoy steelhead fishing, be it in the Great Lakes, inland river mouths,
rivers or streams, that this source of eggs that supply all of these
waters be protected.
The Little Manistee River which originates near a small town of Luther
in northwest Michigan includes 67 miles of mainstream and approximately
41 miles of 16 tributaries. The Little Manistee joins the big Manistee
River at Manistee Lake which empties into Lake Michigan at Manistee.
This river played an important role, over 100 years ago, transporting
logs to Manistee. To accomplish this task, log jams and other
obstructions were removed. River banks were cleared of trees and other
vegetation to aid in the process. After this era passed the Little
Manistee river was left in this devastated state. Spawning gravel beds
were covered with sand from the eroding river banks. This along with the
removal of woody debris eliminated natural spawning, macro invertebrates
for feeding fish and cover for small steelhead. Over the years with the
help of Mother Nature, the river started to cure itself. Then, along
came the next generations of man kind. Houses and cabins were built with
poor river management practices, and people again started clearing the
vegetation from the river bank and removing woody debris from the river.
A dam was built in Luther which has failed 3 times (each time putting
more sediment in the river and causing more erosion).
Early 1996, a group of concerned citizens decided to take measures in
their own hands to protect and preserve this beautiful blue ribbon trout
stream. The Little Manistee Watershed Conservation Council (LMWCC) was
founded. This state chartered 501c3 non profit organization has been
very active over the past 10 years living up to it’s mission. A
Partnership, including MDNR, MDEQ, Conservation Resource Alliance, USFS,
Trout Unlimited, Manistee Chapter Michigan Steelheaders, along with many
other conservation minded individuals and organizations, was established
to join forces in this massive mission.
A river management plan was created to determine where the work should
start. The main culprit to deterioration of a healthy river is sand.
Erosion sites and road stream crossings were labeled in order of
attention needed, severe, major and minor. Most severe and major erosion
sites have been corrected and many poor failing road stream crossings
either repaired or replaced.
The next step was to inventory woody debris in the entire river. From
this inventory it was determined where more wood was needed for macro
invertebrate habitat and fish cover. A report from Mark Tonello, MDNR
Fisheries Management Biologist, has reported that the Little Manistee
River is lacking in cover for age one steelhead. Wild steelhead remain
in the river for about 2 years before they smolt to Lake Michigan, and
then return a few years later to spawn.
 Starting
2005, LMWCC, has been actively addressing this fish cover situation. Lunker
structures have been placed in conjunction with rock bank restoration
projects and in stream wood structures are being placed midstream and
along various areas of the river bank. This wood cover is suspended
about 18” – 24” above the river bottom, either permanently or floating.
The cost for completing all problems listed in this management plan well
exceeds 3 million dollars. Money to handle the costs of these projects
come from state and federal grants, private foundations, membership dues
and donations along with donations from various groups like TU, and
Michigan Steelheaders , to name a few. Some of the cost can be offset by
using volunteer labor.
 In
2006, LMWCC received a generous donation from the Flint River Valley
Chapter Michigan Steelheaders to improve fish cover. 24 structures in
total, 19 floating bank and 5 in stream island structures were placed in
various locations of the river and a tributary. The material and
contractor cost for these 24 structures was $15,000. Volunteers also
pitched in to keep the cost down. Pictured are volunteers hard at work
along with the finished job.
All of us at LMWCC along with the general fishing public want to take
this opportunity to thank The Flint River Valley Chapter Michigan
Steelheaders for their concern and support with projects like these. We
would like to encourage other interested groups and organizations to
also join in and support future projects on the Little Manistee River,
to protect and improve the fishery we all enjoy. If we are successful,
it will be available for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy
as we do today and to carry on with the protection.
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Fall 2004 NewsLetter
Little Manistee River Management Plan
Little Manistee River Management Plan is presently in a rough draft stage ready for a preliminary review by ourselves and members of the "Partnership". Mark Johnson,
C.R.A. Biologist, has been responsible for preparing the plan with the cooperation of members of the Little Manistee Restoration Partnership. This document will identify Little Manistee watershed concerns, threatened uses, desired used, pollutants goals, and watershed projects/programs to resolve problems. The reason for establishing this plan is to enable the partnership to obtain grant movies from the Clean Michigan Initiative Fund. A
5000 dollar portion of the 319 grant is being used to put together the management plan.
Newsletter Editor Seeks Help and Eventual Replacement
After 16 issues of the "Little River News", John Gorys the editor is seeking relief from the tasks of collecting information, photos, writing articles, organizing the letter, having it word processed, printed and distributed. He feels we need some fresh input and there are other watershed activities he would like to involve himself in. Anyone interested in taking on some or all of the tasks of the editor contact John at (231) 266-8145.
Thanks for the Membership
Renewals & Contributions
There are less than a third of last years members that have not yet sent in their renewals. We ask those members to please continue your support of our organization. We still have much work planned and your dues and contributions enable us to continue. There is a large amount of grant money which we are expected to match in part. Your dues and contributions help.
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Note: |
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New Members Invited
Our memberships are open to interested parties and to all
users of this recreational resource.
If you have an interest in becoming a member of
LMWCC, please click here
to request more information. |
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