The Ann Arbor News has an interesting report on an ongoing Huron River fishing survey and related plan to potentially stock the river and/or a tributary with trout:

Last week, the city of Ann Arbor posted a angler survey on its Web site - www.a2gov.org/green ­- hoping to get feedback for recommendations expected in the fall to improve the fishing experience on the Huron River. The city wants the feedback completed by Aug. 30. City officials say the survey takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Trout Unlimited has a proposal to develop a trout fishery in Mill Creek in Dexter.

It’s believed the removal of the Dexter Dam will make the summer water temperatures more favorable for trout, which do best in water at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. However, experts say trout can survive in streams less than 74 degrees.

The proposal states that parts of Mill Creek could sustain brown trout with water temperature higher than ideal but still within the Michigan Department of Natural Resource standards.

On the Huron River near Ann Arbor, one expert said that area would be too warm to support trout in July and August.

“They would die,” said Tom Edsall, a member of the Ann Arbor chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Edsall said there are two scenarios where trout could be stocked in the Huron River near the Barton Dam.

The first is to have the trout stocked in late March. The fish would be harvested by early to mid-June when the water temperatures exceed the lethal limit for trout. That could happen below Barton Dam, especially if Argo Dam is removed. City officials are considering the possibility of removing Argo Dam, but are not near a decision on that.

Full article:

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/08/ann_arbor_seeking_feedback_for.html

The Jackson Citizen Patriot has an update on the black bear spotted Wednesday on a Manchester-area farm.  Excerpts and link:

A black bear first spotted two weeks ago in Jackon County’s Henrietta Township was foraging on a Manchester farm early Wednesday morning.

“Migrant workers in a potato field saw the bear at the edge of a field eating potatoes,” Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said.

The bear moved east through Waterloo State Recreation Area in the last week and was reported near Chelsea, then 10 miles south of Chelsea, Dettloff said.

Wildlife employees set a live trap near where the bear was initially discovered in the backyard of a Jordan Road home. The bear visited the site but was not captured.

Dettloff said that the trap likely will be moved to the Manchester area this weekend, while another trap will remain near the DNR field office on Seymour Road. The bear apparently rummaged through a trash receptacle at the field office, Dettloff said.

If the bear is caught, biologists will tranquilize it, take hair and tooth samples and measurements, tag it and place a radio collar around its neck. It will then be released in an undetermined location.

Scientists could then track its movements to learn more about its habits. Bears increasingly are ranging farther south to where they had lived before pioneers settled.

A black bear was photographed two summers ago in Hillsdale County. Authorities recently killed a bear that was struck by a vehicle and then climbed a tree in Battle Creek.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/08/black_bear_spotted_near_chelse.html

A wild black bear was sighted this morning at Manchester in Washtenaw County.  It was first sighted in the Waterloo State Recreation Area, then east into Chelsea now south to Manchester.  At this rate, it might just reach Lenawee or Monroe County.  Jackson Citizen Patriot excerpt and link:

A black bear first spotted in Henrietta Township two weeks ago was foraging on a Manchester farm early this morning.

“Migrant workers in a potato field saw the bear at the edge of a field eating potatoes,” Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said.

The bear moved east through Waterloo State Recreation Area in the last week and was reported near Chelsea, then 10 miles south of Chelsea, Dettloff said.

Game biologists believe it is a male bear that decided to ramble from its home territory in the north. They hope the bear can shed light on why bears are migrating farther south.

“We have been waiting for an opportunity like this because we don’t have a lot of research on bears in southern Michigan,” Dettloff said.

http://blog.mlive.com/citpat/2008/08/latest_sighting_of_bear_in_man.html

Note:  If you see a bear, stay calm and move slowly away.  Do not run, but do not be scared.  If necessary, make noise.  Bears have a natural fear of humans.  If a bear attacts, fight back.   Here’s a Michigan DNR brochure on the subject:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/preventing_bear_problems_in_MI_111110_7.pdf

The Ann Arbor News published an “Other Voices” column from a past official of the Washtenaw County Drain Commission.  The writer cautions those who hope to bring the Huron River back to its original natural state:

The article in the summer 2008 edition of the “green MI” magazine regarding the future of the various dams and impoundments along the Huron River provides a one-sided story to the reader. The views of those with a vision of a bucolic 18th century Huron River watershed remain controversial.

The Huron River as we know it today is in very large part a creation of the built environment. The original government surveyors described most of southern Michigan as a “land of swamps and fevers” not very attractive for further development. Until the early 1800s, the Huron was supporting commercial navigation at least as far as present day Ypsilanti.

More here…

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews_opinion/2008/07/idea_of_returning_huron_to_nat.html

Several weeks ago, I posted a link to a site listing Michigan’s ghost towns.  Rawsonville, apparently, was flooded by the damming of the Huron River and sits at the bottom of Belleville Lake.

Another city, Ypsilanti’s Flats, apparently is located at the bottom of Ford Lake.  Ford Lake is the body of water that can be seen from I-94 on the way to Metro Airport from Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor News excerpts and link:

In years past south of the city of Ypsilanti was an area called the Flats. It was an open plain of land with the Huron River running through it from west to east. Running through the flats from north to south was Tuttle Hill Road.

By the 1880s, Tuttle Hill Road was one of the most traveled thoroughfares leading into Ypsilanti. A new bridge was built over the Huron on Tuttle Hill Road in 1885.

No one has driven over the bridge in years, but it is still there on the flats. A dam was built on the Huron River in 1930, causing the water to flood the flats and become what is now Ford Lake. For two years the trestle work stood out of the water until winter ice pushed the bridge over to one side. There, on the bottom of Ford Lake, is where it rests today.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/an_old_bridge_rests_under_wate.html

The Ann Arbor News had a VERY PRELIMINARY story related to possible removal of the Argo Park Dam near Downtown Ann Arbor.  The Argo Park Dam is nearing the end of its life span and some would like to create a South Bend-style whitewater course in its place.

There are, of course, competing interests.  The whitewater course could displace rowing teams on the river.  A new dam, of course, could create “green” power at a time when it is sorely needed.

As the Huron River flows for 136 miles, one of its steepest drops is from Barton Pond to Gallup Park, where the downward decline is about twice as great as it is on many other parts of the river.

That has some people thinking that the stretch of the river could be turned into a whitewater park where people could kayak and canoe down the rushing river. The idea of a whitewater park as a regional attraction would play into the city’s image as a community with a robust park system and a lively downtown restaurant and nightlife scene.

More here…

Story excerpts and link:

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/removal_of_ann_arbors_argo_dam.html

For many years, Washtenaw County has been a leader in park and trail development.  The parks along the Huron River from Ann Arbor through Ypsilanti are particularly noteworthy for their quality and natural feel.  It is now possible to start a hike to the west of Ann Arbor and follow the river through to the east of Ypsilanti.  Trail users in the county hope that one day soon, there will be a 35-mile route across all of Washtenaw County.  The Ann Arbor News has an update:

Meanwhile, a citizens’ group - Friends of the Border to Border Trail - coordinated by Bob Krzewinski of Ypsilanti, is forming to push for its completion. The group will sponsor bicycle rides and walks to get more people using it, and will conduct light maintenance of the trail.

This summer, some of the already-completed sections of the trail will be improved. A new, one-third of a mile spur will be built behind the Washtenaw Community College campus. A section of the trail near Eastern Michigan University, from Hewitt to Cornell, is closed for several weeks so it can be repaved.

Fifty-seven new “B2B” blaze signs to mark the trail route will be installed in the Ypsilanti area this summer. Then in the fall, seven kiosks with trail maps will be installed.

County officials also are focusing on extending the trail in the Dexter area, southward from Hudson Mills Metropark, through the golf course to the Village of Dexter.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/major_stretches_of_washtenaw_county_border-to-border_trail_finished.html

The Huron River Watershed Council is offering a free workshop on Sunday, July 27th to train volunteers in the intricacies of stream monitoring.  Ann Arbor News excerpts and link:

The Huron River Watershed Council is seeking to train volunteers to help measure the quality of area streams. The council will hold a free, hands-on workshop on Sunday, July 27, from 2 to 5 p.m.

Attendees will learn to read a river by measuring the condition of the bed, the banks and the channel and by making other observations of the stream and surrounding habitat. Following the training, you and your team of three other volunteers will schedule a time to study a stream site in the Huron River watershed.

For more information, contact Joan Martin at jmartin@hrwc.org or call 734-769-5123, ext. 11. The Web site is www.hrwc.org.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/huron_river_watershed_council_1.html

The renovation of the historic Delhi Road Bridge to the NW of Ann Arbor will be removed for renovation starting on Monday.  The bridge is a particularly beautiful location on the Huron River.  Ann Arbor News excerpts and link:

On Monday workers will begin preparations to lift the bridge from its abutments and set it down on the river bank, where it will be repaired, said Kelly Jones, bridge engineer with the Washtenaw County Road Commission.

The Road Commission closed the 115-year-old, one-lane bridge in June 2005 after inspectors determined it was structurally unsafe. A group of local residents have worked to preserve and repair the structure.

Preparations to move the bridge may take as long as a week, Jones said. Workers will first remove the wooden deck. Then the metal portion of the bridge - everything from the abutments up - will be moved as one piece, she said.

The bridge will be moved onto a small parcel of vacant land just northeast of its present location. Its temporary resting spot is a small slice of Delhi Metropark land, between Huron River Drive and the north side of the river. (Most of the Metropark is on the south side of the river.)

Once the bridge is moved, workers will replace some metal parts of the bridge and paint it, and replace the abutments at either end of the bridge, Jones said.
“It’s just easier for construction,” Jones said of moving the bridge.

The $1.1 million project is expected to be done by the end of November.

http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/east_delhi_road_bridge_to_be_l_1.html

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is Greater Detroit’s regional planning organization.  It includes seven counties, including Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties.  SEMCOG often acts as a clearinghouse for federal and state funding.  SEMCOG also maintains long-range, multi-county plans for a variety of governmental functions.

Among these long-range plans are several devoted to regional transportation.  Currently, SEMCOG is taking input for a regional transportation plan that will cover the years 2010 through 2035.

So, here’s the deal.  If you want better public transportation or rail service, go to these meetings and express your ideas.  If you want good road shoulders for biking, more trails for walking or cycling, go to these meetings.  If you want to spend all transportation funding on freeways, maybe you should find something better to do on the meeting dates:)

Here is the schedule, followed by several media reports about the process:

– July 21, 4-7 p.m.: SEMCOG, 535 Griswold, Suite 300, Detroit.

– July 22, 4-7 p.m.: Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen Road, Southfield.

– July 23, 9 a.m.-noon: Washtenaw Community College, Morris Lawrence Building, Ann Arbor.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20080715/REG/324947313/1069&rssfeed=RSS01

http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2008/07/15/speaking-up-for-better-bicycling-in-metro-detroit

http://www.semcog.org/Long-RangeTransportationPlan.aspx