ROGERS CITY — The Presque Isle Conservation District plans to restore fish and wildlife habitat at the Trout River Dam in Rogers Township.

Conservation District staff are seeking funding to modify the existing structure at the dam and replace it with a stop log-style barrier.

The stop log-style barrier would be removed to allow fish to swim upstream to spawn, but would block the river when sea lamprey are moving.

Conservation District Manager Valerie Meharg said fish can’t get through the dam and bigger fish cannot get to their habitat.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources used to stock fish in the dam, she said, but stopped doing so after the summer of 2018 because the water was too warm and the fish ended up dying.

With the big fish no longer there, the birds of prey also left, she said.

“There’s an osprey nest out there that used to be visited by osprey, and it hasn’t been in quite a long time,” Meharg said. “We feel that having this type of barrier, where we can drain some of that impoundment and get some of the sediment out, it can restore the river to what it used to be while still blocking the invasive lamprey out of there, so they can’t get to the big fish that hopefully will be up there.”

Meharg said they originally wanted to repair the dam, but the DNR preferred the structure be removed. However, she said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wanted the structure to be kept in place because of the sea lampreys.

The stop log-style barrier was a compromise, she said.

Meharg said the project is estimated to cost between $350,000 and $400,000, and Huron Pines has taken over project management to write grants.

The Conservation District has also submitted a proposal to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for the engineering and design of the project, and Meharg said the DNR is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see if funding is available for the project.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.