Forget Me Not Creek restoration will reuse ash logs to cut sediment, expand habitat

At a Woodland Dunes Nature Center site in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, presenters described a stream-restoration project for Forget Me Not Creek that will restore just shy of a half-mile of channel to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff to Lake Michigan and expand habitat for fish and birds.

A presenter said the work will ‘‘provide much more resiliency to the current creek’’ and cut the amount of sediment moving downstream. The team framed the restoration as a response to an earlier practice of ditching the waterway, which left an incised channel that accelerates sediment, phosphorus and nitrate flows into the lake.

Staff member described the effort as one of several interconnected restoration sites. ‘‘This project is part of a broad range of projects that are all interconnected with each other,’’ the staff member said, and added the program includes tree plantings, native-seed work and invasive-species management across multiple locations.

Presenters said a notable element of the project is reusing wood from trees killed by the emerald ash borer. ‘‘Recently, trees were cut down at Fisher Creek that were all dead from the emerald ash borer and instead of those trees heading to a landfill we are actually going to utilize them here at Forget Me Not Creek,’’ a staff member said. Another presenter explained that the infestation leaves ash trees dead and unsuited as live habitat, and that the felled logs can be repurposed: ‘‘We can use these logs for stabilizing soil. We can use them to help re meander the stream.’’

Project staff said the logs will be placed in the channel and along banks to increase habitat complexity, stabilize banks and slow flows; the presentation cited about a quarter-mile stretch that will receive log placements. The work also includes modest channel widening and construction of berms to support birds, reptiles and mammals in addition to aquatic species.

Near the restoration site, presenters pointed to the Henry Wetland Preserve, an about 80-acre conversion of former farm fields into wetland prairie with roughly a three-quarter-mile hiking trail. Presenters said the combined sites are already attracting more native plants and wildlife and are expected to improve stormwater runoff mitigation and fish habitat as the stream gains structure.

No formal votes or policy actions were recorded during the presentation. Organizers presented the restoration as part of ongoing site work; they did not specify funding sources, a construction schedule or required permits during the remarks.

Presenters said the on-site benefits are both ecological and recreational, and that the work at Forget Me Not Creek is one piece of a broader restoration effort in the area.