GLC Conservation Directory

Federal Resources

United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Interior
www.doi.gov/index.html

United States Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
www.fws.gov

State Resources

Michigan Department of Natural Resources
www.michigan.gov/dnr
Click on the Fishing tab (left side navigation) to access Fishing regulations, Trout and Salmon guides, weekly fish reports, etc.

• Hunter Safety Education Classes http://www.michigandnr.com/hunting/recnsrch.asp

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

www.michigan.gov/deq

Michigan Department of Agriculture

www.michigan.gov/mda

Governor's Office

To contact Governor Granholm, click below.

Contact Governor Granholm

Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Michigan Legislature
www.michiganlegislature.org

Schuette Calls for Action as Seven New eDNA Tests Show Asian Carp Near Lake Michigan

After 85 Total Positive Tests, Federal Government Must Move Quickly to Create Permanent Separation of Great Lakes, Mississippi River Basins

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has posted new environmental DNA (eDNA) test results online for Asian carp in the Chicago Area Waterway System that include seven new positive detections for silver carp beyond all electrical barriers. The positive test results, bringing the total since 2009 to 85, were found on June 23rd in Lake Calumet, less than six miles from Lake Michigan.

“ We often wonder after a tragedy if there had been any warning signs that we missed,” said Schuette. “We now have 85 warning signs that Asian carp are an impending tragedy for the Great Lakes. Yet the federal government continues on its five-year study as invasive species continue to move freely in both directions.”

“Losing the Great Lakes is not an option. We don’t need any more studies. We need to act. And we need to act now.”

Despite the past efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others to downplay the significance of positive eDNA results, the tests have been validated through publication in a prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal. The eDNA method is the best and most sensitive means of detecting invading Asian carp because even the federal government’s leading expect on the subject has admitted the fish are exceptionally difficult to capture with conventional techniques, such as netting and electrofishing.

Schuette said that his federal lawsuit, which calls for a permanent ecological barrier between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins in a much shorter period of time than the Corps current time frame, continues on with the support of the Attorneys General of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He also supports the passage of federal legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, which would force similar action.

The results were found by staff at http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/AsianCarp/eDNA.htm

John Sellek
Communications Director
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
517-373-8060

July 20, 2011

Fracking Controversy Nationwide

Dear GLC member,

By working together, the Michigan fly fishing community has an opportunity to better understand some of our most prized rivers and stay in front of emerging threats to coldwater streams and trout populations. We are writing to ask for your financial assistance to fund a major, two year study of temperatures, flow rates and water chemistry on the Upper Manistee and Au Sable Rivers and their tributaries.

In June, the Anglers of the Au Sable board of directors approved a major investment in water quality monitoring on the Au Sable and Upper Manistee rivers. This two-year project will help scientists, regulators and anglers clearly document the state of our rivers today – at the dawn of a potential boom in new and intensive oil and gas development in northern Michigan. This research, performed by some of the top geologists in state, will also provide DNR fisheries biologists with a wealth of new data to better understand and improve our coldwater fisheries – even in the face of deep budget cuts within the department.

To pull this off, we could really use your help.

Fracking Controversy Nationwide

Over the past year, the Anglers of the Au Sable have worked to gain a better understanding of “fracking” – a controversial method of extracting natural gas from deep reserves previously unreachable by traditional drilling methods. For more information about some of these critical issues read Riverwatch Issue 60 on our website, ausableanglers.org.

In short, hydraulically fractured gas wells are the subject of numerous conservation and public health debates across the country. Fluids used to extract shale gas from deep formations contain toxic chemicals; the ensuing migration of methane gas through rock fissures is suspected for outbreaks of contaminated drinking wells; and isolated cases of fluid spills have directly contaminated rivers.

The state of New York imposed a temporary moratorium on fracking in 2010. The state of Arkansas imposed a moratorium earlier this year after numerous earthquakes raised concerns that the fracking of deep shale wells was causing abnormal seismic activity. And in April 2011, Chesapeake Energy — one of the nation’s largest producers of natural gas — temporarily halted all fracking operations in Pennsylvania after one of its deep shale wells suffered a spill that polluted a nearby stream. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a comprehensive study of the environmental impact of fracking. That study may not be completed until at least 2012.

New Urgency in Michigan

In Michigan, one of the most acute concerns with fracking is large-scale withdrawal of groundwater. The Au Sable and Manistee rivers rely on groundwater for their consistent, cold-water flows. It takes five million gallons or more of groundwater to drill a “fracked” gas well. That’s 100 times more water than each of the traditional Antrim Shale wells that have dotted the northern Michigan landscape over the past 50 years. And, this withdrawal takes place “up front” during the process, so while the effects may be temporary, they may be severe when the withdrawal is taking place.

As of early May, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had issued 18 permits to drill hydraulically fracked wells for natural gas in the Utica-Collingwood formation in northern Michigan. Another 12 permit applications were pending. One of those wells was within a couple miles of the headwaters of the Manistee River.

The upper Au Sable River and Upper Manistee watersheds sit atop some of Michigan’s thickest deposits of Utica-Collingwood shale, and the watersheds may see considerable fracking-related development in future years. In two auction cycles in 2010, oil and gas companies paid nearly $200 million for state-owned mineral leases on more than 120,000 acres across northern Michigan. That sum equaled the total lease revenue to the state over the past eight decades. In October 2010, for example, one firm spent $1 million to acquire drilling rights on more than 33,000 acres within the Au Sable watershed near Grayling. Because shale gas in the Utica-Collingwood formation is found at a depth of 10,000 feet, all of the wells drilled into that layer of gas will use the fracking technique.

Our Answer: Document River Conditions Now

The long-term potential impacts of additional development, including fracking, on cold water trout fisheries are largely unknown.

At our June board meeting, Anglers approved Part 1 of a comprehensive, two-year water quality monitoring study on the Au Sable and the Upper Manistee. Conducted by Dr. David Hyndman, the chair of the geology department at Michigan State University, this study will place advanced temperature and flow gauges at 40 locations on those two rivers. The result will be a detailed portrait of river conditions before any fracking rush is fully underway. If fracking takes off and river flows are impacted, we seek to have clear evidence to urge regulators and industry to prevent any degradation of our world-class fisheries.

In addition, regarding Part 2 of the study, we are in the planning stages of a water chemistry study of the same waters. If finances permit, this will take place over the same period of time. Patterned after similar work in Pennsylvania, the chemical analysis will allow us to detect potential future chemical impacts in the rivers from fracking.

We Need Your Help to Keep Watch Over Rivers

The Au Sable-Manistee monitoring study is patterned after a similar approach led by local Trout Unlimited chapters in Pennsylvania, where the fracking controversy is in full bloom. In Michigan, our monitoring techniques are scalable, meaning we can eventually add detailed chemical analysis and more river systems to the project if additional funds are available. We plan to share all data with state biologists to enhance further understanding of the fisheries.

None of this is cheap. The cost of Part 1, the Au Sable-Manistee temperature and flow study, is $96,000. That’s a huge expense for any nonprofit. But we view it as crucial. An investment of up to $5,000 from your Club would go a long way to help the Anglers cover these significant river protection expenses.

We welcome your feedback on this project and the rest of Anglers’ ongoing conservation work.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tom Baird

Vice President – Anglers of the Au Sable

Chairman – Anglers of the Au Sable Oil & Gas Committee

Terry Lyons

Chairman -Anglers of the AuSable Resource Agency Committee

VP Conservation, GLC, FFF

The GLC Needs You!

The Great Lakes Council is making an effort to get contributions from the membership to support various of our activities. You can help. There’s something for everybody to give to, so please consider makeing a donation to one of these causes.

Download the Donation Form

Great Lakes Council Development

Every gift regardless of amount is greatly appreciated and will be used to support projects and events within the Great Lakes Council. This is not limited to the three categories listed on the Donation Form, but rather is a place to start for conserving, restoring and educating within the sport of fly fishing. To qualify for a tax deduction in any given year, contributions must be made by December 31st of that year, and will give the Council a push for the year ahead. Donors will be listed on the Honor Roll published in the “GLC Flyline.”

Conservation: Terry Lyons, VP Conservation (tglyons@live.com) The GLC strives to be the conservation voice of organized fly fishers in Michigan and Indiana. In addition to spearheading the MHRC, we are represented on several river specific restoration committees including the Blue Ribbon Trout Stream Committee, the Michigan Oil and Gas Committee, the Lake Michigan Fisheries Advisory Committee, and the MDNR Fisheries Cold Water Regulations Committee. The GLC provides financial support for specific council club conservation projects as requested on a regular basis depending on amount available for distribution.

Fly Fishing School & Conclave: Jim Schramm, President GLC (jdschramm@oceana.net) The GLC Fly Fishing School & Conclave is held in June each year at the Ralph MacMullen Conference Center on North Higgins Lake near Roscommon, Michigan. Education programs, classes, and workshops for the beginner, intermediate and advanced fly anglers are held on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Donations to this fund will help defray costs of putting on this educational event.

Flyline: Colleen Jenkins, Editor & VP Communications (crowjenkins@comcast.net) , The “GLC Flyline” The Flyline is now e-mailed to the GLC membership and posted on the web site at http://www.fffglc.org/flyline.html We shall continue to work toward making this important newsletter even more relevant and useful for our membership. Producing and distributing the “Flyline” takes well over a quarter of the GLC’s budget. Web site: Contributions to support the GLC website will go toward payment of provider's fees, and enhancements: forms that can be filled out and submitted online, online payments of dues and other fees, and possibly a whole new look to the site. This would also help avoid the necessity of having pop-up advertising on the site.

Fly Tying Expo: Mark Johnson, Chairman Expo Committee (dataplex@acd.net) The GLC Fly Tying Expo is a gathering of more than 80 tyers demonstrating their fly tying skills in one location. Held the first Saturday in December, the Expo has exhibiting vendors as well as raffles and a live auction and is the Councils largest single fundraising activity. A donation designated to the Expo will help defray cost of putting on this exciting event.

Legal Fund: Jim Schramm, President GLC (jdschramm@oceana.net) Contributions to the legal fund will be used to support the involvement of the GLC and/or its Clubs in situations requiring legal action. Examples of past and on-going legal activities include the Michigan Tribal litigation, Kolke Creek case and Mason Tract oil and gas drilling case. Funds are used for legal fees for attorneys, expert testimony, and court costs.

Membership: Terry Greiner, VP Membership (tlgreiner@comcast.net) The Great Lakes Council current membership is currently over a thousand strong. Contributions to this fund will allow us to work with FFF National to increase our base by offering special membership incentives to clubs. In addition, the Fly Tying Expo, fly fishing shows, GLC Conclave and School, and Fall Salmon/Steelhead Outing offer additional opportunities to invite potential new members to federate and learn more about our goals and volunteer opportunities. Another goal is to increase our youth membership and donations will assist in setting up outings, casting and tying programs for the next generation. The GLC provided funds to bring the FFF Education Coordinator to the Conclave and School in 2008 to offer education workshops. The plan is to do this again in 2009 to offer a demonstration youth fly fishing workshop for clubs to start youth programs in their own localities.

Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition: Jim Schramm, President GLC (jdschramm@oceana.net) The Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition (MHRC) is a coalition of four statewide, nonprofit conservation groups. Represented are Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), Michigan Council Trout Unlimited (MCTU), Great Lakes Council, Inc., Federation of Fly Fishers, Inc. (FFF), and Anglers of the Au Sable (AA). Formed in 1991, the coalition’s mission is to ensure that conservation, environmental and recreational concerns are adequately addressed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and given the fullest possible consideration throughout the licensing process of hydroelectric dams in Michigan. The MHRC is governed by an Oversight Committee of the four groups and operates with three consultants who work closely with the Resource Agencies and hydro project owners in addressing the issues. Contributions to this fund will help support ongoing activities of the MHRC.

Scholarship: Rich Knoles, VP Education (rknoles@gmail.com) The annual Great Lakes Council Memorial scholarship is awarded annually to a candidate selected from a list of applicants. In order to be eligible for the award, the candidate must be currently enrolled within a school that is within the boundaries of the Great Lakes Council. Areas of academia that are required need to be affiliated with Natural Resource management, Fisheries and Wildlife management or Education with an emphasis on the sciences and a desire to promote conservation in the classroom. Applications are available through the GLC website, and in order to be considered for the following year, need to be returned to Rich Knloes Prior to April 1, 2012. The scholarship is a one time payment of $1,000, and is available to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Unrestricted: Don Sawyer, VP Development (dsesi@aol.com) A most urgent category is for unrestricted donations which will allow the GLC to direct funding of strategic areas of critical need. Contributions can be designated as unrestricted but any not designated for specific programs will be placed in this category. These include benefactor donations as well as those obtained from fund raising efforts at GLC sponsored events.

August 2011 Conservation Report Terry Lyons, VP Conservation

Mason Tract:

The US Forest Service has been forced by court order to delay work on the Mason Tract EIS. We have heard no reports of any activity on this project yet.

Oil and Gas:

As previously reported the major concern at this time is the use of “Fracking” to extract previously inaccessible deposits of oil and gas. Two issues related to this process have come to the attention of the Conservation/Environmental community. The first is that this process utilizes huge amounts of water. The concerns are where does this water come from and what happens to it after it is used. The second issue is the use of “proprietary” chemicals. There are chemicals included in the fracking solution that are classified as proprietary and therefore do not have to be disclosed. The only time these chemicals have to be revealed is in the event of an accident of some kind and then only to medical personnel involved. There is currently a lot of activity by governments at all levels to get a better understanding of this process and to determine just what the risks of it are.

The Anglers of The AuSable, one of our council clubs, has recently initiated a water flow-monitoring project to track the flows on the Upper AuSable and it’s tributaries. This 2-year project will provide baseline data that can be utilized if significant drilling activity begins in this region. It will also provide data that can be used to upgrade the Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool that is currently in place. This is a very expensive project and any groups that have any funding available are asked to support the Anglers.

Cold Water Regulations:

The Cold Water Regulations Steering Committee continues to meet to discuss issues of importance. At our last meeting Jim Dexter announced that the group would now be named the “Cold Water Resources Steering Committee”. This change was made because the group is now discussing issues impacting our coldwater fisheries in addition to regulations. The next scheduled meeting is in the fall.

As part of our commitment to help with the signage on the newly created Quality Fishing Areas the GLC approved $1000 funding for additional Gear Restricted signs at our June meeting. I have been working with Nick Legler, the DNR Biologist for the UP and we have ordered the signs for the new Gear Restricted reaches of Cooks Run, the Fox, and the South Branch of the Paint Rivers. We will be assembling the signs and the DNR will install them.

As part of my responsibility as Chairman of the Anglers of The AuSable’s Resource Agency Committee I have been working to get the new signs installed on the Upper AuSable and Manistee rivers. To date we have prepared 87 signs and installed or distributed for installation by others most of these. I will coordinate the remaining sign work this fall.

FFF Conservation Grants

The GLC applied for a FFF Conservation Small Grant in the amount of $1,500 for the Anglers of the AuSable’s Temperature Monitoring project. The Anglers will be using the funds to purchase and maintain 20 temperature sensors in the Mainstream and South Branch of the AuSable River. Other groups are doing the same in other reaches of the watershed. The FFF Board approved this request and the Anglers have received these funds.

We have recently begun to put together another application for a project by the St. Joseph River Fly Fishers to reclaim a reach of McCoy Creek. This project will include the restoration of an old mill in addition to the work on the stream itself. FFF and GLC funding will only be used for the stream work portion of the project. If approved by the GLC Conservation Committee we will be submitting this project for another FFF Conservation Small Grant in October.

Michigan Hydro Re-licensing

President Schramm continues to work on behalf of the MHRC to complete the removal of the dams on the Boardman River. This project is moving forward. Plans are being finalized for the first steps in the removal of the dams. A proposal for the removal of Sabin Dam was recently presented for comment and should be approved soon.

Terry Lyons, VP Conservation August 2011