The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the agency’s partners will pool $4.8 million in 2004 to remove 91 barriers to fish passage in 26 states.
Service funds for the popular Fish Passage Program, amounting to $2.8 million, will be supplemented by another $2 million in matching funds from a wide array of partners ranging from civic and conservation organizations, local and State governments and other Federal agencies.
“Since 2001, the Fish Passage Program has removed 158 barriers across the country,” said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. “The Service, working with local communities and partner agencies, is using a voluntary, non-regulatory approach to restore natural flows and fish migration.
Rivers are running their natural course, habitat has been restored, and the fish are coming back.”
“Our partners in this program enable us to really stretch taxpayer’s dollars,” Director Steve Williams said. “That gives us a budget that lets us do far more than we could if we were in this alone. It’s all voluntary, and it remains one of the most popular programs.”
Fish Passage works to remove obstructions in waterways that prevent fish from reaching spawning grounds or historic habitat. Projects can be as small as inserting culverts under roads or railroad tracks or as large as the removal last February of the 95-year-old Embrey Dam near Fredericksburg by a military explosives team.
Many of the small dams targeted for removal date as far back as the American and Industrial Revolutions. Those dams were built either to accommodate early barge traffic or to provide power or irrigation for a young country. As times changed, many of the dams were abandoned but
remained in place, serving only to block populations of fish and contributing to their gradual decline.
Completion of the 2004 projects will open 19,364 acres and more than 3,048 miles of waterways for fish, contributing to larger populations and more recreational fishing opportunities.
STATE
Expected Funds
Expected Matching
Miles
Project Waterway
Received
Funds
Opened
ALASKA
$505,860
$40,000
126
Anchorage Bowl Inventory
$20,998
na
Kenai Peninsula Inventory
$20,554
na
Matanuska-Susitna Inventory
$25,000
na
Cannery Creek
$10,000
8
Chena Slough
$50,000
$30,000
15
Muskrat Creek
$35,000
1
Lake Miam
$4,000
12
Chijuk Creek
$5,000
15
Lower Ship Creek
$25,000
1
Upper Piledriver Slough
$50,000
5
Sinona Creek
$5,000
9
Moose Creek
$22,387
25
Two Moose Creek
$15,000
18
Question Creek
$2,500
$10,000
Morgan’s Landing
$25,000
5
Stariski Creek
$35,421
5
Pullen Creek
$35,000
2
Kern Creek
$60,000
3
Rabbit Slough
$60,000
2
ARIZONA
$136,400
10
Haigler Creek
$52,000
2
West Turkey Creek
$11,200
1
Black Draw
$13,200
2
Canyon Creek
$60,000
5
CALIFORNIA
$27,000
Shasta River
$27,000
FLORIDA
$90,000
5
Oyster Lake
$50,000
Barrier Inventory
$10,000
$5,000
na
Little Rocky Creek
$30,000
5
GEORGIA
$115,000
$68,000
16
Rock Creek – Chattahootchie NF
$50,000
$6,000
4
Dill Creek – Chattahootchie NF
$50,000
$50,000
8
Falling Creek – Oconee NF
$15,000
$12,000
4
IOWA
$52,000
$38,200
22
Shellrock River
$52,000
$38,200
22
IDAHO
$28,336
$51,000
28
Jacknife Creek
$13,000
5
Squaw Creek
$2,336
5
Togoggan Creek
$13,000
$51,000
18
ILLINOIS
$60,300
$15,799
69
Big Rock Creek
$60,300
$15,799
69
MAINE
$160,000
Not in total below
500
Penobscot River
$75,000
$50,000,000
500
Penobscot River Inventory
$45,000
na
Sheepscot River
$40,000
25
MARYLAND
$85,000
$1,000
12
Wicomico Creek
$40,000
12
Raven Rock Creek
$30,000
Chester River Fishway Evaluation
$15,000
$1,000
na
MICHIGAN
$96,060
$263,500
18
Northern Lower MI Watersheds
$55,500
$150,000
10
Carp River
$40,560
$113,500
8
MINNESOTA
$100,000
$200,000
65
Red River
$100,000
$200,000
65
MISSOURI
$82,300
$64,700
31
Osage River Basin
$64,700
$64,700
17
Ditch 11 – Mingo NWR
$17,600
14
MONTANA
$157,000
$367,040
1935
Red Rock Lakes NWR
$55,000
$20,000
Tongue River
$50,000
$10,000
35
Clear Creek
$13,000
2003 two-year project
na
Blackfoot River
$39,000
$337,040
1900
NEBRASKA
$8,800
na
Spaulding Dam
$8,800
2003 two-year project
na
NEVADA
$89,000
$50,000
na
Truckee River
$89,000
$50,000
na
NEW YORK
$56,000
Peconic River
$56,000
OKLAHOMA
$222,000
$208,000
10
Little River Tributaries
$222,000
$208,000
10
PENNSYLVANIA
$144,000
$159,000
88
Susquehanna River Tributaries
$64,000
$100,000
30
Ridley Creek
$20,000
$59,000
8
Conodoquinet Creek
$10,000
25
Conococheague Creek
$50,000
25
TEXAS
$17,500
$41,470
12
Brundett Lake
$17,500
$41,470
12
UTAH
$100,000
$50,000
10
Provo River
$100,000
$50,000
10
VERMONT
$35,000
$100,000
5
Lake Champlain Basin
$35,000
$100,000
5
WASHINGTON
$338,312
$238,170
29
Pants Creek
$45,400
$18,410
1
Cedar Creek
$80,000
$30,000
1
Washington Culvert Inventory
$55,000
na
St. Andrews Drive
$74,600
$60,000
9
Satsop Clogualium Road
$40,112
$129,760
5
White Salmon River
$43,200
13
WEST VIRGINIA
$12,000
Shenandoah River Fishway Evaluation
$12,000
na
WISCONSIN
$29,022
$72,000
27
Vaughn Creek
$16,900
$10,000
2
Pike River
$12,122
$62,000
25
WYOMING
$90,000
30
Mill Creek
$25,000
20
Bull Lake Creek
$45,000
2003 two-year project
na
Popo Agie
$20,000
10
TOTALS
$2,836,890
$2,027,879
3,048
By: Ken Burton, Office Public Affairs
