On February 21, 2025 Minnesota Trout Unlimited's (MNTU) design engineers for its Trout Brook project, Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc (EOR), received a Water Resources Excellence award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota for our recent stream habitat restoration project in Miesville Ravine County Park Reserve. ...
Caption: SSL-SWCD staff doing pre-project geomorphological surveys at Amity Creek in Duluth. These data will be used to inform the design of the Amity Creek restoration project – a collaborative project involving SSL-SWCD and MNTU. (Photo: Tim Beaster, SSL-SWCD) By Dr. Jennifer Biederman, Habitat Director Stream restoration has come a long way...
By Dr. Jennifer Biederman The Driftless Area, spanning parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, is renowned for its spring-fed streams, cold water, and limestone geology. These unique environmental factors create ideal year-round conditions for trout. In streams with the most groundwater influence, both flows and water temperatures remain fairly constant...
If there is one thing that many degraded streams across Minnesota have in common, it’s a lack of key habitat types that support trout of all stages and ages.
The sight of an in-stream habitat improvement project in progress can be a bit eye-opening – heavy machinery, including large excavators are working along the banks and in the stream, often moving large amounts of soil to slope the banks while digging out silted in pools and re-constructing new riffle...
Standing by a newly restored stream, the benefits are often clear: the eroding banks, invasive plants, and barren channels have been replaced with gently sloped banks, deep pools, spawning riffles, and thriving native vegetation. It’s easy to see how these improvements boost fish populations by creating better habitat for food...
On October 5 close to 40 individuals joined us for a day-long behind the scenes tour of sites where MNTU has completed habitat improvement projects. Our Executive Director John Lenczewski and Habitat Director, Jennifer Biederman led the trip, sharing their knowledge of how a project is planned, executed and monitored....
On August 4,2024 twenty conservation-minded folks gathered on the banks of Eagle Creek in Savage, MN to become certified Save Our Streams (SOS) community scientists – learning the techniques for biological and chemical water testing in streams. The effort was led by the Twin City Trout Unlimited (TCTU) Streamkeepers...
Unobstructed pathways are crucial for stream-dwelling trout at key times throughout the year and life cycle. Trout must be able to move freely in a stream system to reach spawning and overwintering areas, find coldwater refuge in low, warm summer flows, and access feeding grounds. However, barriers like dams, road...
This photo from Hay Creek in the State Forest illustrates how the June flood waters spread out. You can see the flattened grass. The energy release of floodplain prevented any damage to the instream habitat.
