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GLC Conservation Directory |
Federal Resources United States
Department of Agriculture www.usda.gov
United States Department of Interior
United States Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State ResourcesMichigan Department of Natural Resources
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
To contact Governor Granholm, click below. Other Resources for Fish Information:Michigan Sea Grant Great Lakes Fishery Trust Great Lakes Fishery Commission
June 2013 Conservation Report
Michigan DNR License Change/Governors Budget:
In February the Governor submitted a budget proposal. Last week the budget package cleared both houses of the legislature and was signed into law by the Governor. The license package is being addressed in separate legislation and is still being discussed in the Senate. At this time it appears that the license package is close to the one that was initially proposed. When finalized it will provide millions of new dollars of funding for the DNR and Fisheries division. Among the items that can be supported with this increased funding are more conservation officers and funding for conservation grants for stream and lake habitat work. Phone calls to State Senators are needed at this time to assure the passage of this measure. As details emerge we will follow up with more information.
Michigan Fisheries Issues Approval Process.
Until recently, the DNR Director approved all Fisheries Orders and regulations. Recent legislation to mandate scientific management changed this process and shifted this responsibility to the Natural Resources Commission. This legislation also provided for free licenses for active military personnel and wounded veterans. The NRC has had the authority for wildlife issues since Proposal G was passed in the 1990’s. The reason fisheries issues were not handled this way was due to an oversight when Proposal G was written. In recent years having the DNR Director responsible for fisheries issues has worked well for the stakeholders. We have had DNR Directors who listened to the Fisheries Staff and the voices of stakeholders when making their decisions. This was not always the case and it is not known how the current Director would operate. We now have the opportunity to develop a relationship with the seven members of the NRC. In the past we have not gotten involved with the NRC because they have not been responsible for the issues that were of concern to us. Now we must get to know them and attempt to make sure they continue the process of using the advice of Fisheries Staff and stakeholders in the decision making process.
IFFF Conservation Grant Update:
The deadline for the 2013 summer grant cycle has passed and no grants from the GLC have been submitted. The next cycle will be this fall. If any GLC clubs have projects that could use up to $1500 of additional funding please let me know.
Boardman River Dams/ MHRC: Jim Schramm
The Brown Bridge Dam removal project on the Boardman River has been completed. Work on the removal of the remaining dams is proceeding. We recently received notice that a group of riverfront property owners has sued over the damage caused by the flooding after the removal accident and other reasons. The MHRC (and possibly it’s individual member groups) because of its membership on the IT Team may become involved in this lawsuit. As this issue develops we will keep you informed.
Oil and Gas Development in Northern Michigan:
Mineral extraction development is on the increase in Northern Michigan. We are working closely wit the Anglers of the AuSable’s Oil and Gas Committee on this issue. Most of this committee’s members are also GLC Directors. Our primary concern (but not only) is the high volumes of water required for this drilling. New permit applications have been submitted for wells requiring over 15,000,000 gallons of water. The majority of this water will be lost for future use forever. It will be heavily polluted and re-injected into deep wells for disposal. There is much opposition from the Conservation/Environmental Community. There is much discussion ongoing about how best to deal with this issue. We will keep you apprised of how this issue proceeds.
Recently a well being drilled by Halliburton in the Kalkaska County could not get enough water from their on site water wells to complete the drilling process. After drilling several additional water wells both on and off of the well pad they still could not get the amount of water stipulated in their drilling permit. An adjacent property owner also reported that their water well had gone dry. One of the current residents family had resided on the site for over 80 years. There had never been a problem with water wells on the site. The Anglers sent one of their Experts to assess the situation. He determined that the water appeared safe to drink but that the water table at the home had recently dropped over 11 feet. The only likely reason was the amount of water taken for the fracking process. Halliburton was forced to purchase water and have it trucked from the village of Kalkaska so the well could be completed. This situation has provided more ammunition for those fighting the use of previously unheard of high volumes of water for the fracking process. It also emphasizes the problems that have been observed with the Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool that is used by the DEQ to issue water permits for drilling and other industrial uses.
Joint Lake Huron and Michigan Advisory Committee
Earlier this year President Schramm and I attended the annual Joint Lakes Committee Meeting in Clare. Of special interest were the presentations about the low lake levels and the recent Atlantic salmon planting in the AuSable River. Lake levels are expected to slowly recover to normal. This process could take 4 years. The low water has caused serious problems for boaters on the great lakes. Many of the boat launches are inaccessible. There is funding for some of the larger commercial harbors but the smaller harbors used by the charter fleet are not under the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers. The State is trying to come up with ways to get these harbors opened for safe boating traffic. The Atlantic Salmon planted this spring could start showing up in near shore catches this summer and some will return to the River as early as this fall. The majority of the Atlantics will return to the AuSable at age 3 in the fall of 2014. The new criteria for determining how many Chinook Salmon will be stocked was discussed. Right now the Chinooks are not doing well and stocking will be cut back. If they begin to rebound the numbers will be increased. The criteria uses the average size of a female Chinook captured at the Strawberry Creek Weir in Wisconsin.
Catch and Release Fishing Proposal
The Michigan Bass Nation has proposed changing statewide fishing regulations to allow catch and release fishing in the off season. There are two proposals one is exclusively for bass in non-trout waters. The other is for all species in non-trout waters. Exceptions are listed in the documents. I think this subject should be discussed to develop a policy statement from the GLC. See attached documents.
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