aldo leopold chapter trout unlimited - National Fish Habitat Partnership

ALDO LEOPOLD CHAPTER TROUT UNLIMITED
Conserving, protecting and restoring cold-water fisheries and their watersheds in Dodge, Columbia and Sauk Counties, Wisconsin.
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c/o Mike Barniskis, President, 805 South Center Street, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin 53916. 920-356-0081
BEAR CREEK
HABITAT
IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT
NATIONAL FISH HABITAT PARTNERSHIP
10 Waters to Watch 2012 — Project Update
Driftless Area Restoration Effort
Bear Creek, Sauk County, Wisconsin
Lat: 43° 21’ 3.2” N Long: 90° 10’ 51.1” W
March 24, 2013
Project Purpose:
The National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) with the Trout Unlimited Driftless Area
Restoration Effort (DARE) and the Aldo Leopold Chapter of TU (ALCTU) is critical to Bear
Creek’s restoration. The project purpose is to reduce erosion and siltation within Bear Creek
to provide high-quality cold-water habitat. This partnership can change Bear Creek’s Class
II stream status to a Class I stream, thereby providing sustainable native and wild cold-water
fish populations. Stabilized stream banks will improve water and substrate quality resulting in
long-term benefits to the entire stream habitat.
• Increased trout- and non-game species reproduction capacity
• Greater watershed flood-control capacity
• Built-in protection against potential negative climate-change impact
• Contributed to the overall NFHP and DARE strategies
Project Timeline:
It is important to point out that our funding request to NFHAP in October of 2010 stated
goals and timing for the restoration of only one full mile of stream – being completed by
the end of 2011. However, our fund-raising efforts and the generosity of our contributing
partners allowed us to complete restoration of that first mile of stream in August 2011 and we
immediately moved into the funding and completion of a second mile of stream restoration
by July 2012. These two miles of Bear Creek were restored with a cost of $280,000 ($12.95
per foot of stream bank).

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Now in 2013, ALCTU is currently raising funds for continued restoration of an adjacent
section of Bear Creek. Approximately 75% of the required funding for 2013 has been
secured. This future section also has a permanent access easement and is 1.15 miles in stream
length. The 2013 section is immediately downstream from the NFHAP funded one mile
restored in 2011 and is upstream from the previously restored (2004) Bear Creek Fishery
Unit. The Bear Creek Fishery Unit is approximately 775 acres under Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources ownership. These 775 acres include Bear Creek and tributaries. Much
of the riparian land is floodplain marsh with a limited amount of lowland timber. The
NFHAP, DARE and ALCTU partnership is reconnecting fragmented and now, improved
habitat to benefit the entire Bear Creek Watershed.
Project Partners:
During the last three years, approximately $380,000 have been raised. $260,000 has
been invested in the Bear Creek restoration project. With an additional $146,000 currently
secured, approximately $20,000 will need to be added for the restoration work planned for
2013. Bear Creek Contributing Partners are:
• Alliant Energy Foundation
• Aldo Leopold Chapter TU
• William Fargen Family
• Badger Fly Fishers
• J. E. Dutton Foundation
• Sauk County Land Conservation Department
• Trout & Salmon Foundation
• TU Embrace-A-Stream
• USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program
• USFWS National Fish Habitat Action Plan
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Wisconsin State Council TU

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Project Updates & Changes:
Many of the techniques that are being applied to the Bear Creek restoration have been
proposed as adaptation strategies to help lessen the impacts of climate change, which poses a
significant threat to cold water fish populations. Fisheries experts believe streams in watersheds
with sufficient groundwater input, like the Bear Creek Watershed may be better buffered
to climate change impacts, particularly if habitat conditions along the course of the stream
allow for the maintenance of the cold temperature of groundwater input. Streams allowed
to remain damaged as a result of poor land-use practices may be more vulnerable to climate
change induced warming of water temperature. Bear Creek and other restored DARE
streams could be monitored to determine the extent to which stream restoration helps buffer
cold-water streams to climate change impacts as compared to degraded streams that have not
yet been restored. Funding has been secured to begin installation of a monitoring system
following the DARE Stream Monitoring Protocols.
Project restoration plans will also apply practices to provide benefits for multiple non-game
species. A more holistic restoration approach benefits far more species than trout. Two slack,
backwater wetland pools have been noted on the future 2013 site and these will be enhanced
to provide greater wetland habitat for amphibian, reptile, bird, fish and invertebrate species.
Within the stream itself:
• In-stream anchored tree trunks and woody debris provide non-game/invertebrate
species refuge and create planned shallow flats important to feeding shore birds
• Vortex weir-created deep pools are important as over-wintering sites
• Installed snake and turtle hibernacula provide stable wintering shelters
• Boulder islands provide basking and resting spots for many species.
The pasture surrounding the section of Bear Creek to be restored in 2013 is working ag land,
lightly used for cattle grazing and this practice will continue in the future. Despite the negative
impact overgrazing can have on water and habitat quality, cattle and trout can get along as
various pasture sites within the Driftless Area have shown. ALCTU and DARE will use this
opportunity to further define proper pasture-grazing practices and increase public and
landowner awareness.

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Best Weeks for Site Visits:
The restored sections of Bear Creek all have public-access fishing easements. No invitation
or reservation is required. The annual trout fishing season in the State of Wisconsin is from
the first Saturday in May through the end of September. The months of May and September
would be optimal time periods to experience Bear Creek. Bear Creek is located in western
Sauk County, Wisconsin and flows along State Road 130. The restored site is approximately
1.25 miles north of the intersection of State Road 130 and Highway N.