Spotlight: Eagle Creek Habitat Improvement Project (Savage, MN) This spring, Minnesota Trout Unlimited (MNTU) will begin construction on a 2,000-foot trout stream habitat improvement project on Eagle Creek in Savage, located between Highway 13 and 126th Street. The primary goal is to enhance habitat for native brook trout while improving overall...
On a rainy afternoon a few months ago, I stopped at a newly constructed project on my way home to see how it was reacting to the higher flows. Walking the stream, in-particular, a section where a restored riffle curved into a nice deep pool with toewood tucked into the...
Fish passage is not always just about fish passage. A culvert replacement might start as a solution to a barrier in a watershed, but when MNTU gets involved, it becomes an opportunity to address habitat beyond the ability for a trout to get from point A to point B. When...
Over the past few decades, Minnesota has made tremendous progress in restoring and enhancing its coldwater streams. Across the state, partnerships between Minnesota Trout Unlimited, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and others have brought new life to miles and miles of degraded...
By Dr. Jennifer Biederman Walk a recently restored bend of a trout stream anywhere in Minnesota and you may notice a line of logs tucked tight to the bank, some with their rootwads still attached. That isn’t debris. It’s a feature called toewood, a design approach that uses large wood to...
When a stream restoration project wraps up, the work on the ground is just beginning. During construction, streambanks are graded and soil is heavily disturbed throughout the project reach. In most cases, to restore the stream’s access to its floodplain we must grade back soil. This requires that most vegetation...
MNTU is proud to be a part of an effort to add the highest level of protections to over 1,100 acres of land in the City of Duluth now called the Lester–Amity–Hawk Ridge Natural Area as a part of Duluth’s Natural Area Program (DNAP). The area includes a large segment...
July is the heart of field season when it comes to carrying out stream restoration work across the state. Tackling riparian invasives, removing barriers to fish passage, scoping future projects, maintaining tree plantings, and implementing large scale instream habitat improvements - the staff, members, volunteers, and contractors of MNTU have...
When most trout anglers think about culvert replacements, they rightly think of trout passage to critical habitat. Undersized, perched, and crumbling culverts block trout from reaching cold water refuges, spawning grounds, and more habitat. Removing those barriers is a huge benefit to trout fisheries. But often overlooked is the fact that...
If you’ve fished along a trout stream in northeast Minnesota lately, you’ve probably noticed the standing dead spruce and balsam fir, open gaps in the forest canopy, and more brush than you’d expect in what used to be shaded, coniferous woods. It’s not just about aesthetics - it’s a coldwater...
