Rifle River is picturesque stream flowing through Arenac and Ogemaw counties to Saginaw Bay. (Huron Pines photo) RIFLE RIVER CLEANUP: Huron Pines Group Leading Effort to Improve Watershed
March 3, 2013
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Conservation activities in the Rifle River Watershed will be in high gear in 2013 and 2014, according to Huron Pines, Gaylord, the non-profit coordinating group.
Huron Pines will be leading efforts to protect the Rifle River's recreational value through improved public education and enhancing stormwater management in Rose City.
A recent $30,000 grant from the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) has allowed Huron Pines to secure over half of the funding needed.
The Rifle River is one of the most heavily used streams in northern Michigan, drawing thousands of canoeists and tubers on summer weekends.
Huron Pines is coordinating installation of permanent signs at popular public access sites on the river to provide information on river etiquette and safety.
Local community partners, businesses and volunteers along the Rifle will play a key role in providing insight into sign content, assisting with sign installation and raising additional funds.
Huron Pines is also planning to work with road commissions in Ogemaw and Arenac counties to install Rifle River Watershed boundary signs along highways leading into the watershed to identify watershed boundaries and bring attention to this area as well as the larger Saginaw Bay region.
Building upon the success of the ongoing stormwater management project in West Branch funded by Saginaw Bay WIN and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Huron Pines and local partners will complete a comprehensive stormwater assessment of Rose City.
The assessment will identify stormwater drainage sites and runoff to Houghton Creek, a high-quality tributary to the Rifle River. Huron Pines will work closely with the community to provide recommendations for managing stormwater runoff efficiently and effectively and to engage volunteers and local students in the construction of rain gardens to capture runoff.
Funding from the Saginaw Bay WIN will kick-start these efforts. Local investment is sought from recreational businesses, recreational users, community organizations and townships.
These new efforts are coupled with ongoing conservation efforts in the Rifle River Watershed as well as a new Northern Saginaw Bay Watershed Restoration Initiative. For more information, please contact Garrett Noyes, Watershed Project Manager, at (989) 448-2293 x16 or garrett@huronpines.org.
Saginaw Bay WIN is a volunteer organization that includes more than 90 citizens and organizations and focuses on opportunities to better link the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Saginaw Bay communities in order to sustain and improve the region's quality of life.
Ten area foundations and corporations work together as a Network to support WIN projects. This Funders Network includes: Bay Area Community Foundation, Midland Area Community Foundation, Consumers Energy Foundation, The DOW Chemical Company Foundation, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, The S.C. Johnson Fund, and the Cook Family Foundation. The Foundations contribute $300,000 per year to the Sustainable Communities Initiative Fund. More information about WIN is available at www.saginawbaywin.org
Funding for these watershed initiatives are provided by the Americana Foundation, Bay Area Community Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Healing Our Waters -- Great Lakes Coalition, Michigan Fly Fishing Club, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Sustain Our Great Lakes program, Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Ann Arbor and William B. Mershon Chapters of Trout Unlimited.
- See more at: http://www.huronpines.org/projectinfo.asp?pjt=nv&nid=52&pid=43#sthash.I1oWnkmE.dpuf
Huron Pines, an environmental conservation group in Northeast Michigan has received two grants to aid in restoration projects.
Grants will fund sixteen Americorps volunteers and work on the Rifle River Watershed Restoration project.
Americorps volunteers will be helping non-profit groups with conservation efforts such as removing invasive species and monitoring water quality.
"One of the great things about the program is that the AC being out there and helping other groups and helping landowners; what that really leads to is getting more people out and more people involved," said Brad Jensen, Executive Director of Huron Pines.
The goal of the the Rifle River project is to restore water quality to the watershed and open up more miles of stream for fish habitats. Jensen said these conservation efforts have been ongoing for six years.
The Rifle River, that cuts through Ogemaw and Arenac Counties and flows into Saginaw Bay, is being mapped in connection with the project.
"And the rifle river is one of the best, if not the best tributary to the Saginaw bay, and what we're trying to do in this case, is really protect and enhance that stream systems," Jensen said.
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