Tour

Milwaukee River Watershed and Lake Michigan Basin -- Thursday, June 12th

The Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department Fish Passage Program is working to improve the connectivity of fish and wildlife habitat throughout the Milwaukee River Watershed and Lake Michigan Basin. Since 2006, the Program has identified and remediated over 200 impediments to fish and aquatic life passage, reconnecting over 100 stream miles and thousands of acres of high quality habitat, supporting long-term efforts to re-establish and support self-sustaining native populations of threatened, special concern and game fish. This field trip will visit five project sites in Ozaukee County, including a nature-like fishway at the Mequon Thiensville Dam, the Lime Kiln Dam and Newburg Dam removal and restoration sites, a large-scale habitat enhancement project on Ulao Creek, and a road/stream crossing replacement in Ehlers Park. Program staff will discuss how linear and lateral aquatic connectivity and habitat restoration and enhancement projects improve the ecological function of the landscape, and highlight how aquatic connectivity projects can improve aquatic life passage goals while meeting infrastructure improvement needs.

The tour will depart the Madison Concourse Hotel at 8 am on a chartered bus. The tour will stop for lunch at the Milwaukee Ale House in Grafton, WI (participants may order from the menu and pay individually). The tour will conclude and the bus will return to the Madison Concourse Hotel by 5:30 pm. Cost of the tour is $20 per person to cover the cost of the bus.

You can enroll when registering for the conference. You must click on the tour option on the same page where you select the conference registration rate. If you've already registered for the conference but want to sign up for the tour, please call 800-462-0876.