Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fisheries Habitat topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DWR seeks $165,000 for reservoir and river habitat installations in Northern Region
Summary
Division of Wildlife Resources staff asked Blue Ribbon and Habitat councils to fund a package of artificial-reservoir habitats, boulder placements and river bank repairs across the Northern Region to improve survival and recruitment for stocked trout and community fisheries.
Eric Edgley, Habitat Section chief, and Clint Brunson, assistant aquatics manager for the Northern Region, presented a regional package of habitat work that would add artificial fish structures to reservoirs, place boulders and lodgepole trees for bank stabilization, and repair eroded walk-in access on the Weber River.
"Most of our waters were built either in the late 1950s or into the 1960s," Brunson said, explaining that woody habitat placed at inundation long ago has largely decayed and reservoirs lack productive littoral structure. He said the request focuses on Pineview Reservoir (middle arm), Stateline Reservoir, Bountiful Pond and Andy Adams Reservoir, and river-bank repair at Weber River walk-in and angler-easement sites.
The proposal seeks about $165,000 in combined council support: roughly $98,000 for purchase of artificial habitats (trees, shrubs and “safe-haven” kits), $30,000 for boulders, $32,000 for heavy-equipment contract work and in-kind labor from local angling groups. Brunson said the Division also applied to a Johnny Morris (Bass Pro) habitat grant; that fund allows a maximum request of $20,000 per applicant and requires matching funds.
Nut graf: The Division argues added structure would increase survival of stocked and wild juvenile perch and black crappie, stabilize boom-and-bust cycles common in shallow community fisheries, and shore up riparian banks where perpetual easements commit the department to long-term maintenance.
Brunson said the artificial tree-and-shrub modules are snag-resistant and hold perch and crappie in fall and winter, when turnover increases predation risk for young fish. The Northern Region staff showed underwater camera and angler-reported evidence from Pineview that installed structures produced higher concentrations of fish and prompted positive angler feedback.
Questions from council members covered phasing of work and matches. Brunson said the Johnny Morris award is disbursed over three years and requires a 1:3 match (one dollar from the grant requires three dollars of match), so projects could be phased. He also said willow clump plantings and rootballs will be used on bank-repair benches and staff will work with local landowners where beaver and other factors complicate revegetation.
Ending: Brunson invited further questions and said details and maps of proposed placements are available on the Division’s project page. Council members expressed support for the approach and for prioritizing sites with public angler access and existing easements.
