Angling for tourists: Hersey dam demolition to restore trout fishery

Jeff Broddle | Cadillac News Hersey Village President John Calabrese looks over the crumbling dam on the Hersey River. The structure is slated to be demolished after being deemed unsafe. While the dam will be lost, a park nearby will be returned to public use.

HERSEY - Hopes are the removal of an aging dam will provide a vital key in the survival of one local village.

Like many of the state's more than 2,000 dams, the Hersey River dam in the Village of Hersey was once a significant source of hydropower and important to the community's economic infrastructure.

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Constructed in the 1930s, the dilapidated dam is now considered a public safety threat and detrimental to the environment. Its demolition and a river restoration are expected to play a significant role in reviving the community.

“The only business left downtown is the General Store,” said Village President John Calabrese. “My feeling is if tourism and recreational opportunities on the river increase, it will inspire someone to reopen businesses and there will be enough people around to support them. We want to see our village come back to life.”

Transforming the dam from a liability to an asset is a $400,000 effort. The project is funded by grants from the Great Lakes Watershed Restoration Program, the National Fish Passage Program and matching dollars from the Wege Foundation with support from Trout Unlimited.

Its removal will open an eight-mile run connecting the waterway to the Muskegon River, improving fish spawning activity. The measure also will correct a temperature issue associated with the impoundment of waters.

“Thermal pollution is invisible so people don't think about it,” said Gary Noble, MRWA executive director. “In the case of the Hersey and Muskegon, it's a real threat.”

Warmed waters become lethal to cold water species, according to Denny Douglas, president of the Pine River Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

“Every year you would have a fish kill,” Douglas said. “They would become stressed and die.”

Those involved in the project believe river improvements will increase populations of brown trout, brook trout and steelhead.

“We're confident the stretch of river upstream is going to change and improve the habitat for cold water species,” Noble said.

Experts can only speculate as to how long it might take for fish populations to rebound.

“It could be the next day, or a year or more,” he said.

Restoration also involves removing sediment and bank work.

“Nature by itself will re-establish the equilibrium,” Noble said.

Michigan dams were originally constructed to support logging and mill operations, for flood management and to generate electricity. Manton and Marion have dam reconstruction proposals in the works. Those projects are stalled due to lack of funding.

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How dam removal benefits angling conditions:

€ Removes obstructions to upstream and downstream migrations

€ Restores natural habitat

€ Restores natural seasonal flow variations

€ Eliminates siltation of spawning and feeding habitat above dam

€ Allowing debris, small rocks and nutrients to pass below the dam, creating a healthy habitat

€ Eliminates unnatural temperature variations below the dam

Source: www.michigan.gov/dnr

sbarber@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)