Eagle Scout Project Constructs Trout Spawning Habitat
Boy Scout "bucket brigade" moves gravel into the Creek. Spawning brook trout indicate success!
Local conservation group funds project on Hiawatha National Forest
Story submitted by Chuck Bassett, Fisheries Biologist 906 789-3336
On a buggy day in May 2008, Eagle Scout candidate James Schmidt, along with 20 fellow scouts and leaders from Troop 408 in Escanaba, MI, installed 12 tons of gravel in Johnson Creek to provide spawning habitat for brook trout. This coldwater stream on the Hiawatha National Forest is one of many that have been improved to produce higher numbers of the native species highly sought by anglers. Materials, equipment and some Forest Service technician labor were funded by a $2500 donation from Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County. Altogether, 3 dump truck loads (about 36 tons) of gravel and cobblestone were placed in the stream with hand labor.
The day began with Fisheries Biologist Chuck Bassett explaining how the project would provide conditions needed by spawning trout. The role of the project in providing self-sustaining fisheries on the Forest also was addressed. Projects such as this produce trout that disperse over several miles of stream.
Gravel was installed by the "bucket brigade" method. The large group of workers made short work of the gravel pile. The rough-placed gravel in the stream was raked to create the depths and current velocities favored by spawning trout.
By early November, more than 20 pairs of brook trout had spawned on the new gravel. Brook trout redds (spawning nests) typically contain at least 300 eggs. Although survival of tiny, newly-hatched trout is usually low under even the best conditions, monitoring results from past projects indicate that Johnson Creek should produce several hundred trout that will eventually contribute to the fishery.
Earlier investments in sediment control activities upstream from the gravel project encourage survival of trout eggs and fry. A road crossing that had been a major source of sediment input to the stream was reconstructed and paved during 2007. An instream sediment basin captures most of the transported sediment that otherwise could bury spawning gravel and suffocate trout eggs.