Announcement: Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment released for Portage Creek and Allied Paper (OU1) now available for public review and comment. The draft plan is open for public comment until June 1, 2012

With the cooperation of all stakeholders, the trustees plan to dramatically improve the Kalamazoo River environment. The overall goal is to restore and maintain a riverine ecosystem with structural and functional components that mimic the Kalamazoo river corridor prior to modification by dams and waste disposal.

The trustees have developed the following preliminary restoration objectives:

• Diverse healthy ecosystem dominated by native or naturalized species, a naturally vegetated riparian zone, not a grassy park-like setting
• Habitat should meet requirements for semi-aquatic species, such as turtles, amphibians and reptiles (minimize rip rap or other hard barriers)
• “Riparian zone” encompasses the river valley between the upland forest on each side of river (not limited to the floodplain)
• riverine habitat should support diverse, healthy mussel beds as well as essential host fish (for transport of mussel larvae)
• in-stream movement of fish is restored to the maximum extent possible (pursuant to DNR management goals)
• habitat supports native important predator species such as mink, otter, eagles and others
• strive for continuity of riparian and forested habitat to link with Gun Lake and Fort Custer (to preserve genetic diversity of plant and animal communities)
• Enhance various types of wetlands habitat

• Enhance degraded areas, and protect existing areas, that provide important surface water/groundwater interchange (the hyporheic zone) - often associated with diverse plant communities.  
• Restore natural river flow flux and channel forming geophysical forces to allow meandering channel and dynamic floodplain
• Provide substrate that supports ecosystem and species management objectives (not artificial or non-supporting material)
• Water, nutrient and particulate input and flow is restored to that consistent with vegetated watershed
• Achieve reductions in non-point source pollutant loading

• Increased public access pursuant to decisions by State land managers
• Provide access without degradation to existing (or restored) habitat

• Eliminate loading of PCBs to Lake Michigan
• Eliminate the fish consumption advisory for PCBs on the Kalamazoo
• Balance short-term habitat losses with overall restoration objectives
• Consider potential habitat uses in contained areas (e.g. prairie)
• Remedy does not “transfer” or create problems in adjacent areas