April 15 Meeting: Rewilding Northport Creek
Northport Creek is a small stream that flows
through the Village of Northport into Grand Traverse Bay. It is designated as a
coldwater trout stream and, despite its modest size, supports naturally
reproducing fish populations and a range of aquatic life. At the same time, it
is a working landscape—shaped over more than a century by logging, farming,
village development, and infrastructure.
The Northport community is currently facing a decision of whether to "rewild" the creek by removing the Mill Pond dam—an old logging dam that forms a pond that is considered by some to be a community amenity and by others to be a deteriorating impediment to the health and beauty of the creek itself. Our meeting on April 15 will consider not simply the pros and cons of removing a dam, but how to think about the future of a stream that is already partly
altered, partly functioning, and subject to multiple pressures.
David Brigham has offered to lead the discussion. He has submitted a number of documents that are relevant to the discussion, some brief and some lengthy. This AI Summary of the documents together with links to the underlying sources is offers background reading for the meeting. Please feel free to submit any other comments or links in the window below.
AI does not as much even mention that the issue for promoting "rewilding" is about being an advocate for protecting clean water, our most valuable natural resource! Beyond the loss of habitat for trout, which a
ReplyDeletewild, free flowing stream would provide, the dam not only traps sediment, it traps natural occurring nutrient enrichment that provides the fertilizer which induces algae and weed biomass to bloom during summer. When you further consider all the duck feces that is trapped behind the artifical barrier, you can begin to see how the pond becomes a nursery for E.Coli bacteria during summer. AI is NOT an advocate for protecting clean water but you and I shoud be as we are the stewards of our fresh water natural resources.
Let's not make this issue more complicated than it is. It makes absolutely no good sense to waste tax dollars keeping a trout stream and its cold spring water impaired while the federal government provides funding as incentive to remove obsolete dams and restore the stream fishery.
the obsolete dam (that has no praticalpractical or economic benefit to the community) go far beyond anything AI has mentioned. In short,