The city of manitowoc is taking a holistic approach to stabilize eroding stream banks and improve in-stream and riparian habitat within silver creek park, which protects 3,700 linear feet of…

The City of Manitowoc received a $244,200 Project Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance program (CFDA 15.608) to stabilize eroding streambanks, enhance riparian habitat, and improve water quality and aquatic habitats along Silver Creek and its estuary. The project activities will include final design, permitting, construction, oversight, and native revegetation within the stabilization areas and the larger riparian corridor. The key objectives are to improve habitat conditions for macroinvertebrates, forage fish, and sustain a productive sport fishery, support migratory bird use at a critical stopover habitat, and enhance pollinator habitat for the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee. The project will help address conservation and restoration needs for vulnerable Great Lakes fish and wildlife in the face of climate change, invasive species, development pressure, and water quality degradation.

The city of manitowoc is taking a holistic approach to stabilize eroding stream banks and improve in-stream and riparian habitat within silver creek park, which protects 3,700 linear feet of undeveloped riparian shoreline along silver creek and 2,000 linear feet of lake michigan shoreline. The parks combination of stream, estuary, shorelines, wetlands, grasslands, and forest habitats have been identified as one of the most significant remaining migratory stopover habitats on the wisconsins central lake michigan coast. Anglers from across the midwest travel to silver creek park for the annual steelhead run, and the 36-hole disc golf course is considered one of the best in wisconsin. This unique mix of recreational access amenities and diverse habitats provides an excellent opportunity to balance multiple uses and educate the public on the need for restoration, to sustain important coastal ecosystems. Silver creek and its estuary have been significantly degraded by bank erosion, which contributes sediment loads to the stream and lake michigan, and has resulted in a wide, shallow channel, accumulation of fine sediments, and loss of in-stream habitat structure. This proposal will stabilize and install native vegetation along 3,333 linear feet of eroding banks, install in-stream habitat structures, and enhance the degraded riparian zone with native pollinator-friendly plantings. Once implemented, this project will increase native species diversity, enhance structural complexity of riparian and coastal habitat, absorb and attenuate surface water runoff, reduce erosion and sediment reaching silver creek and lake michigan, improve water quality, and improve fish habitat. The single primary target species to benefit from this project is steelhead (rainbow trout), which is an important economic driver for the region. However, the fish community as a whole, which includes important recreational fishery species such as brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, white sucker, steelhead, northern pike, chinook salmon, and coho salmon, as well as ecologically important forage fish, will benefit from improved habitat structure, water quality, and reduced erosion and sedimentation. Significant secondary benefits to migratory birds, including neotropical migrant songbirds and diving ducks, are expected as a result of enhanced aquatic macro-invertebrate and forage fish populations. The enhancement of pollinator habitat within the riparian area will include diverse nectar sources for the federally-endangered rusty patched bumble BEE (rpbb), which was documented less than a mile away in 2022. Project activities will include the necessary steps for final design and implementation of the streambank restoration, building on previous site analysis and preliminary design, in order to achieve the objectives of improving water quality and aquatic habitat conditions for macroi-nvertebrates, forage fish, to sustain a productive sport fishery, support migratory bird use at a critical stopover habitat, and support pollinator habitat for imperiled species. This shovel-ready proposal will include final design, permitting, construction, oversight and native RE-vegetation within the stabilization areas, plus the larger riparian corridor. This proposal addresses broad needs for conservation and restoration of key functions for vulnerable great lakes fish and wildlife, in the face of climate change, invasive species, development pressure, and water quality degradation. This proposal will target urgent and emerging needs to restore fish and wildlife habitats that have been identified as high priority in state, regional, and local plans. In particular, the importance of silver creek, its estuary, and contiguous protected riparian and upland habitats, has been recognized as great importance locally to supporting a sustainable fishery, and regionally nationally, to supporting thriving populations of migratory birds, monarchs, and the federally-listed rpbb.