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Project Title: Ferson-Otter Creek Dam Removal (FFS #R3TC)
State: Illinois
Project Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Carterville Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in southern Illinois will receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to remove the Creek Bend Forest Preserve Dam and modify the Davoust Dam, two primary fish passage barriers in the lowermost portion of the Fox River watershed in northeast Illinois. The Davoust Dam is a rock dam comprised of boulders which will be hand manipulated to provide passage for aquatic organisms during all stream flows. The Creek Bend Forest Preserve Dam will be removed and bank stabilization measures will be taken.
The existing barriers in the Ferson-Otter Creek watershed presently impact movements and limit habitat availability for populations of fish and mussels. Restoration of fish passage in the lower Ferson-Otter Creek watershed will be the first step in reconnecting this system to downstream source communities, and will help to reopen the lower watershed for spawning and nursery habitat. By reconnecting previously fragmented habitat, this project will also provide benefits to the larger Fox River watershed, tributary to Green Bay in Lake Michigan.
For additional information about the Carterville National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, visit the Carterville-Marion NWFCO website.
News Releases:
Secretary Salazar Announces Grant Award for Ferson-Otter Creek Fish Passage Restoration in Illinois
Originally posted 08/06/2009
Updated 09/25/2009
