Fish Creek Restoration complete
------------------------------------
Interstate effort helps last home of white cat's paw pearly mussel
The last-known refuge of the white cat's paw pearly mussel is Fish Creek in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. Two other endangered mussel species also live in the stream. A 1993 diesel fuel spill damaged the St. Joseph River tributary.
A $2.5 million Natural Resource Damage Assessment settlement has allowed Fish Creek restoration partners to improve the stream's water quality, wildlife habitat and wildlife diversity.
The Fish Creek Restoration Trustees will host a Fish Creek Restoration Completion Ceremony at the town of Hamilton's Fish Creek Trail pavilion, Sept. 27, at 11 a.m.
More than 1,500 acres of the stream's watershed has been protected through acquisition, conservation easements, reforestation, streambank stabilization, and wetlands restoration.
Educational and research projects included mussel surveys, stream-flow analysis, walking trails with interpretive signage and the promotion of best management practices to local landowners.
The Nature Conservancy says Fish Creek is the best remaining example of a unique riverine community that once characterized the western Lake Erie Basin.
Fish Creek Trustees include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and The Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Trustees partnered with The Nature Conservancy, the town of Hamilton, and private landowners to conserve and restore natural habitat within the watershed.
Fish Creek Trail pavilion is in Steuben County on the south side of Bellefountaine Road, about one-third mile west of the four-way stop sign in downtown Hamilton (Intersection of State Route 427 and State Route 1).
Restoration staff will provide tours of educational trails and restoration sites after the ceremony.
Map of Hamilton:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hamilton+indiana More Fish Creek Restoration information:
www.dnr.IN.gov/fishwild/fish_creek.html http://www.nativefish.org/articles/Fish_Creek.php Fish Creek water quality study:
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/documents/FishCr2002TSDfinal.pdf -----------------
Media contact,
John Maxwell
DNR Communications
317-232-5648
-----------------
_______________________________________
----------------------
Unsubscribe, change address or change listserv options at:
http://lists.in.gov/mailman/listinfo/wildbulletin ------------------------------------------------------------
Wildbulletin mailing list
Wildbulletin@lists.in.gov
http://lists.in.gov/mailman/listinfo/wildbulletin
