Chapter president, Jim Hess, recently met with Dr. Terry Guerkink for a tour of the restoration work on Kittleson Creek upstream of the bridge on Drammen Valley Road. Thanks to Dr. Guerkink providing one of the most generous donations in our Chapter’s history, the DNR was able to complete far more work than was originally budgeted. The tour gave us an opportunity to say thanks and show Dr. Guerkink the progress being made.

The tour was led by Dan Oele, DNR Fisheries Biologist, and the project supervisor, Scott Harpold, DNR Trout Habitat Coordinator. One interesting feature of the project is how the crew incorporated the removed trees into in-stream habitat and streambank stabilization. Rather than creating burn piles, they installed root wads and used the tree trunks to redirect stream flow. The picture at bottom shows some of  the root wads and a submerged log in gin clear water. There will be a lot of large trout in this easement, but do be prepared to lose some files. As they say, nature is not neat.

The two-track earth mover used for this project was quite impressive. The cab and bed can rotate 180 degrees so the operator does not have to turn around to dump the dirt being removed. This is critical when working in tight spaces. The tour was educational and quite fun. It was agreed that Dan Oele would schedule a time for Dr. Guerkink to watch a stream shocking operation in spring.

It should be noted this restoration is on land owned by Larry and Barb Lange. Our chapter recognized them with the Landowner Certification of Appreciations Award at a recent banquet.