Since time immemorial, the Anishinaabe, the indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes, fished and hunted on the land and waterways of Michigan. Plentiful fish species like brook trout, smallmouth bass, and the spiritually important nmé, or lake sturgeon, sustained generations of native people. Today, however, development, agriculture, pollution, and habitat fragmentation resulting from road building and dams threaten the sustainability of local fisheries.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians tribal members still retain the right to fish, hunt, and gather on their traditional lands. They are leading the regional effort in Lower Northern Michigan to reconnect rivers and streams with barriers to fish passage. NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation awarded them $3.6 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to support this work.
The project will:
- Remove 12 fish passage barriers at road-stream crossings, reconnecting 60 miles of stream for brook trout, smallmouth bass, and sucker species
- Reduce the risk of catastrophic road failures and flooding at those road-stream crossings
- Reduce safety issues for boaters at a site located on the Crystal River in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Investigate fish passage options for lake sturgeon at two hydroelectric dams on the Black River
- Enhance the ability of the Grand Traverse Band to participate in restoration work by sustaining a river restoration project manager position
- Provide tribal members with more subsistence fishing opportunities on their traditional lands
Project partners include Huron Pines and Conservation Resource Alliance. Additional major funders include:
- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Great Lakes Fishery Trust
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Reconnecting Tribal Members to Traditional Lands
“From a tribal perspective, the connection within watersheds is important functionally and symbolically,” says Brett Fessell, restoration section leader for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB). “Just like these rivers, tribal members’ sense of pride and connection to the land has been to some extent severed since colonization. We're now restoring that connection.”
The NOAA award will allow GTB to remove fish passage barriers across a wide area historically occupied by Anishinaabe in six counties in Northern Lower Michigan. The GTB and four other federally recognized tribes ceded their territory to the United States government as part of the 1836 Treaty of Washington. The Treaty retained rights for the Anishinaabe to hunt, fish, and gather plants on lands not used for settlement. This includes public lands like state and federal parks and private land with permission.
“I think it is important that the Grand Traverse Band takes a leadership role in this because it is something that our grandparents and ancestors have fought for, have reminded us how important it is,” said former GTB Tribal Councilor JoAnne Cook in the video Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems. “We are bringing all that knowledge with us to ensure that it is done correctly and that we don’t forget.”
Restoring the Crystal River
Removing barriers on the region’s rivers and streams will restore access to critical spawning, forage, and refuge habitat for fish species important to the tribe and recreational fisheries. The work will also benefit other wildlife such as otters and turtles, improve road safety, and support local tourism. GTB’s efforts to replace three sets of culverts on Crystal River, a shallow cool water system with healthy smallmouth bass habitat, demonstrate the multifaceted benefits of the restoration projects.
The Crystal River is a popular kayaking destination in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Some kayakers come to “shoot the tube”—float through a long, narrow road culvert at one of the road crossings. This culvert squeezes the Crystal River, usually about 15 to 20 feet wide, into a narrow tube, accelerating the water flow. While giving kayakers a momentary thrill, the culvert presents a major challenge to fish swimming against the current. The same acceleration happens at the other culverts on the river.
“Unlike salmon or steelhead, most fish species in the Great Lakes, especially the juveniles, are not the strongest swimmers,” says Fessell. These velocity barriers prevent the river’s smallmouth bass population from easily moving through the system to access food or escape from predators.
Undersized or submerged culverts also force other wildlife and kayakers onto the roads to bypass them. More than 15,000 kayaks and canoes are on the river each year. Paddlers are forced to drag their boats across busy roadways, putting them at risk of a collision.
The aging and poorly designed culverts could cause the entire road to wash away if they were to fail. The water erodes openings between and underneath the culverts, forming sinkholes that could cause the road to collapse.
In September 2024, GTB and its partners started construction work to replace the culverts on Crystal River. They will build channel-spanning timber bridges at two locations and a concrete and steel structure at a third site with plenty of room for fish, mammals, reptiles, and boaters to pass underneath. The new structure will also be designed to withstand 100-year flood events. Once the work is finished, the river can reestablish natural stream channels and functions. Construction on the Crystal River and 11 other sites will be completed by 2026.
Restoring Fish Passage for Sturgeon on the Black River
With NOAA funds, GTB hired Naomi Louchouarn for a new river restoration project manager position. This has allowed GTB to increase its ability to participate in coordinated restoration planning and implementation.
Louchouarn is helping GTB engage in the Federal Energy Relicensing Commission (FERC) relicensing effort for the Tower and Kleber Dams on the Black River. These hydropower dams have blocked upstream access for lake sturgeon for more than 100 years. If new licenses are issued, the dams would stand for at least the next 40 years. The dams have the capacity to provide power for 600 homes.
According to GTB’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge, lake sturgeon spawn near waterfalls. Recent studies suggest two waterfalls are hiding under the ponds created by the dams, suggesting the dams have obliterated historically important spawning grounds in the Black River.
Lake sturgeon can live 100 years or more. If the dams were removed, it’s possible fish that were born under the falls last century could return. “I’ve been doing this work for nearly 30 years,” says Fessell. “This opportunity won’t come again in these fish’s lifetime.”
Working through FERC relicensing is a complicated multi-year process involving many different interested parties who may have opposing views. Tribes, nonprofits, and other government agencies can participate in the environmental review process. Depending on the entity, they can issue mandatory license conditions and recommendations for FERC’s consideration in developing the license requirements. The GTB and other organizations would like the dams to be removed.
“The NOAA award is significant because it allows us to dedicate time and capacity to the dam relicensing which we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” says Louchouarn. “We've been able to build relationships with partners, build an implementation team, and work on a case for removal. Our NOAA technical monitor Greer Harewood has been amazing about identifying folks within NOAA who have technical expertise with FERC. It’s been invaluable to have their insights.”
GTB has subsequently been awarded and recommended for additional funding through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to support their work. In July 2024, NOAA awarded GTB $11.9 million to restore coastal habitat on sacred ancestral land along West Grand Traverse Bay. This award will also contribute to a 20-year restoration project to reconnect the Boardman-Ottaway River to Lake Michigan to restore fish passage. All native Great Lakes fisheries stand to benefit from these restoration projects—including two threatened native species, cisco and lake sturgeon.
GTB has also been recommended for a $2 million award to identify and assess future climate-related threats to tribal properties and develop a tribal strategic plan for climate resilience. They will conduct a greenhouse gas emission study to help measure progress toward carbon neutrality. In addition, a new Tribal Youth Advisory Council will foster intergenerational connectivity and support tribal climate literacy.
