Forests for Fish

Mike Smalligan, DNR Forest Stewardship Coordinator

SmalliganM@Michigan.gov or www.Michigan.gov/ForestStewardship

Michigan’s Spectacular Forests and Water

Michigan’s Forests• 20.3 million acres

• 56% of our land area

• $21 billion industry

• Other land uses- 10 m agriculture- 3 m wetlands- 2 m urban

Michigan’s Water• 25.6 million acres

- 24.7 m Great Lakes- 0.9 m inland lakes

• 10,759 lakes > 5 acres• 76,439 miles of rivers• 3,049 miles GL shoreline

• 9% of world’s fresh water!

• What is the economic value?

My “Home Waters”

Muskegon River in Newaygo

Basin #1 1,131 acres

Agriculture 0%

Forest 80%

Shrub 3%

Water 15%

Wetland 1%

Basin #2 6,660 acres

Agriculture 51%

Forest 28%

Shrub 10%

Water 6%

Wetland 3%

Water “Quality” Headlines and Reports

“Spread of Lake Erie algae raises alarm across region”

(Detroit News, September 28, 2017)

“Poor manure practices culprit in thousands of fish deaths”

(Maumee River in Ohio, August 24, 2017)

“Low PFAS levels found in major Lake Huron drinking water system”

(MLive, February 22, 2018)

“U.S. Steel leaks chemical into Lake Michigan tributary, EPA reports”

(Portage IN, April 12, 2017)

“Copper Harbor covers up leak of 400,000 gallons of raw sewage into Lake Superior”

(UP News, 27 March 2018)

10.5 billion gallons of poop!

Michigan’s Impaired Watersheds

Fish Consumption Advisories

• The Michigan Fishing Guide says go to www.Michigan.gov/EatSafeFish

• Eat “safe” fish?– 3,116 pages of advisories!

• “No one should eat more than 2 meals per month of Lake Superior lake whitefish due to dioxins, PCBs, and toxaphene. Mercury would cause advisories.”

• Red areas are NOT supporting fish consumption

'Do Not Eat' Advisory Issued for Deer Taken within five miles of Clark's Marsh, Oscoda Township

“The advisory is due to high levels of PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) found in a single deer taken about two miles from Clark’s Marsh, which borders the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base.”

Does Forest Management Cause Pollution?

Probable Source of Impairment Lakes (acres) Rivers (miles)Wetlands

(acres)

Great Lakes Shoreline

(miles)

Great Lakes (square miles)

Atmospheric Deposition 4,214,594 85,872 200,171 3,280 39,230Unknown 3,761,194 143,955 383,096 1,070 9,297Agriculture 1,182,059 134,411 203,199 657 4,488Natural/Wildlife 1,172,278 50,728 288,473 1Unspecified Nonpoint 1,130,571 60,618 2,040 47 115Other 875,745 9,333 888Urban Stormwater 804,179 48,978 130 98 0Historical Pollutants 749,910 6,230 21 851 0Hydromodification 696,532 88,986 4,565 240Municipal Sewage 691,354 56,626 21 342 115Resource Extraction 519,917 33,156 32,112Habitat Alterations 288,233 65,749 33 98Industrial 246,619 11,665 352 72 0Construction 223,035 21,399Recreation/Tourism 174,519 1,747 1Spills/Dumping 173,199 4,038 6 3Silviculture (#10 in Rivers) 170,181 40,836

National Water Quality Data

https://ofmpub.epa.gov/waters10/attains_nation_cy.control#causes

Water Use in Michigan – 2016 data

1,100,000

615,000,000

27,400,000,000

6,000,000,000,000,000

• Nestle use per day

• MI consumptive use per day

• MI flow per day (10 trillion/year)

• Great Lakes volume (6 quadrillion)

Top 20 Michigan Water Users in Michigan in 2015 (millions of gallons per day, excluding power and public water supplies)

Top 20 Michigan Water Users in Michigan in 2016 (millions of gallons per day, excluding power and public water supplies)

Forests provide abundant clean water and quality fish habitat.

www.ForestsForFish.org

How do Forests Provide Clean Water?

• Permanent vegetation slows water velocity

• Undisturbed soils and leaf layer limit erosion of sediment

• Soil and vegetation filter pollutants

• Limited infrastructure and impermeable surfaces

• Infrequent and small chemical spills

• Forests regulate timing and magnitude of streamflow

Forests, Flint & Clean Drinking Water

How to Provide Clean Water:

1. Protect source areas

2. Treat drinking water

3. Monitor distribution system

66% of freshwater originates from forests which cover 33% of USA land area. (50-50 in MI)

180 million people in 68,000 cities rely on forests to captureand filter their drinking water.

So What can We Do?

Foresters, loggers, biologists, landowners and anglers can

manage, protect, enjoy & expand our forests (and water).

Managing Forests for Fish Habitat

• Retain live and dead trees in the riparian zone– Shade, stabilize, structure

• Keep sediment out of water– Roads and stream crossings

• Remove barriers– Replace undersized culverts– Remove unnecessary dams

• Place or retain wood in the water– Retain gravel, slow velocity, deeper pools, protection from

predators, stabilize banks, aquatic food chain

Wood is Good! (Photo: Jeremy Geist)

Protecting Water Quality in Forests

• Keep forests as forests

• Use Best Management Practices – Riparian Management Zones– Stream crossings & wetlands– Minimize and clean up spills – Forest trails and landings

• BMPs are an Investment that provide on-site and downstream Benefits

• Certification helps us define and promote our “land ethic”– 1,400+ loggers trained by Sustainable Forestry Initiative– Certification requires the use of “voluntary” BMPs

Enjoying Michigan’s Water Resources

• Forests provide clean water and great fish habitat

– 225,000 seasonal homes

– 800,000 registered boats

– 1.2 million anglers

Ever fish in a corn field?

Expanding Forests in Michigan

• Forest cover in Michigan is stable and slowly increasing since 1930

• Riparian forest buffers in agriculture (and cities)– Plant trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants to reduce sediment and

chemical flow into water from adjoining fields

• Are tile drains or sewer pipes undermining the buffer?

• Why are farmers plowing right up to the river?

• Why are cities paving right up to the river?

Financial Assistance for Landowners

• Riparian Forest Buffer– $2,354 per acre

• Streambank Protection– $56 per foot for riprap

• Stream Crossings– $92 per foot for culverts

• Forest Trails– $10 per linear foot

• Stream Habitat– $551 per wood placement

• Aquatic Organism Passage– $12/cubic yard earthen dam removal

www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/mi/home/

What does Forests for Fish provide?

• Educational and marketing materials– www.ForestsForFish.org– www.Facebook.com/ForestsForFish

• Landowners– $300 for a Forest Stewardship Plan– $100 for “free” Tree Farm site visit

• Loggers– 125 new memberships in Michigan Association of Timbermen

• Foresters – 30 new memberships in Association of Consulting Foresters

• A bridge between the forestry and fisheries communities

Stories and Videos at www.ForestsForFish.org

www.forestsforfish.org/index.php/videoswww.forestsforfish.org/index.php/stories

Payments for Ecosystem Services

• Beneficiaries should pay providers for services

• 6 trillion gallons x $0.0072 = $43.6 billion

• Loggers should take credit for providing clean water

Capital Investments:

1. Forests

2. Agriculture

3. Infrastructure

What else can YOU do for clean water in Michigan?

• Reduce Consumption– Buy fewer steel and plastic products– Use wood products responsibly– Buy and consume less meat– Quit buying bottled water– Shop at your local farmers market– Hunt and fish for truly local food– Carpool and webinars to reduce gasoline >>>>

• Increase Action– Have your septic system checked every 5 years– Plant trees near surface water to protect soil and water – Use best management practices and excellent loggers for forest management– Join Trout Unlimited & other conservation groups– Volunteer on habitat restoration projects with your local conservancy

• Smarter Policy– Investigate if your city still has combined sewer overflows (Detroit, Dearborn, Lansing, Wyandotte, etc)

– Pay your local taxes and utility bills to upgrade infrastructure– Vote for politicians who value clean water more than fast profits– Ask politicians to better regulate water consumption and quality in Michigan– Quit exempting agriculture from the Clean Water Act– Land Use Policy for cities, agriculture and forests in the right places

120 Years of Forests and Water

• National forests could be reserved in public domain

– “to improve and protect the forest within the reservation,

– or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows,

– and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States.” [Organic Act of 1897]

• National forests could be purchased that are “necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams” [Weeks Acts of 1911]

• “Water, in all its uses and permutations, is by far the most valuable commodity that comes from well-managed forest land.” [NASF, 2004]

Water is one of Michigan’s best forest products!

Great Forests Make Great Lakes

Michigan is a unique place in the world.

BMPs provide tremendous downstream benefits.

Manage, protect and enjoy our forest and water resources.

Forests provide abundant clean water and quality fish habitat.