Service biologist Jim McFee begins his Summer Notes talk at the Pine River Nature Center. - FWS photo by Lisa Appel

The Pine River Nature Center invited Service biologist Jim McFee, of the Alpena FRO, to give a presentation for a weekly program called Summer Notes.  The Pine River Nature Center is a 5000 square foot log cabin located in the middle of a beautiful 80 acre track of hardwoods, along the Pine River.  The center is located in St. Clair County Michigan and is operated by the St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency.  The center was built to give school kids the opportunity to be involved with nature.  This is an amazing facility and is kept running strong by Lisa Appel the operations coordinator.

On May 23, 2007 McFee gave a presentation entitled Lake Sturgeon and Lake Whitefish Recovery in the Detroit River.  This presentation was prepared as a collaborative effort by USGS and Service biologists.  The talk gave a broad overview of the changes that have occurred along the Detroit River and the impacts of these changes over the last two hundred years.  Following the overview of changes to the river a snapshot of the work being done for lake sturgeon and lake whitefish recovery interested all listeners.  McFee touched on the Belle Isle reef construction project, the proposed Fighting Island spawning reef project, and overall sampling in the Detroit River used to better understand the resource. 

Everyone in attendance was very interested with the changes of the past and the recent work that is being done on the river.  Following McFee’s presentation was a short talk from a member of the St. Clair River BPAC (Bi-National Public Advisory Council).  Communication after the presentations, with the BPAC member, helped to build a possible future partnership to help our valuable resources.