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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Group hopes to start restoring Fox River locks in three years
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A group of boaters and others is trying to raise enough money to start restoring the Fox River locks system in three years.
The Friends of the Fox needs about $28.8 million to open the locks along the 39-mile stretch of the Fox River between the bay of Green Bay and Lake Winnebago, president Bob Stark said.
The group already has raised enough money to restore the locks within eight years and now is trying to collect enough to move up the restoration to within three years, Stark said. "It's going to happen," Stark said.
The 17-lock system consists of a series of gated chambers that fill or empty with water to lift or lower boats, allowing them to pass dams along the river. The system was built in the mid-19th century and became obsolete after World War II because of the railroad and trucking systems.
The federal government could no longer justify keeping open the locks by the 1980s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the locks in 1986-87 except for the ones at De Pere, Lawrence and Menasha.
The corps turned over the system to the state-appointed Fox River Navigational System Authority, which wants to restore the locks. "This is all about tourism and the environment," said authority chairman Ron Van De Hey of Kaukauna. "It's going to allow people access to the river." The Friends of the Fox has raised about $3 million, enough to qualify the project for a $2.8 million match from the state. The federal government also promised $5.6 million. The authority received $11.8 million when the corps turned over the locks. The corps calculated that amount was needed for closing the locks permanently, so the authority must save most of that money if it ever needs to close the locks.
Those amounts of money put the authority on a restoration plan that would have taken between seven and 12 years to execute, said Doug Dobbe, chairman of the Unlock the Fox Capital Campaign Committee.
"So we went back to the authority and asked, 'How much would we need to open in two to three years?'" Dobbe said. "It would take another $5,250,000, we were told. "The campaign now hopes to raise that amount by the end of September.
"It's certainly possible," Dobbe said. "It's a tricky thing. Work expands to the time allotted, so it's good to have a deadline."
Some fishing clubs oppose reopening the system because they fear doing so will encourage sea lampreys and other invasive species to spread. The plan is to keep one lock - Rapide Croche, just south of Wrightstown - sealed as a barrier. A boat lift will move watercraft over the dam there.
Still, anglers are worried the plan isn't enough.
"The fishery and natural resources on the Winnebago system have incalculable value," said Mike Arrowood, chairman of the Fond du Lac-based Walleyes for Tomorrow. "To jeopardize that in any way, shape or form for the convenience of a few people to run pleasure boats from here to there doesn't seem to make much sense to us."
Adam Ward eagerly awaits an open lock system. He owns the Tiger's Den Pub & Grill in Wrightstown, already a destination for recreational boaters.
"It'll draw more traffic, and I'm all for anything that'll increase traffic on the river," he said.
Stark and other supporters believe an open lock system could bring the area $100 million annually through tourism and development.
"We have, for some time, always pointed to the Fox River as being a tremendous asset for the village if for no more reason than just the natural resource, the beautification that it does afford us," said Stephen Johnson, president of the village of Wrightstown. "But now, maybe commercially, there'll be some economic impact."
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On the Net:
Friends of the Fox: http://www.friendsofthefox.org/
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Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com
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Location: Neenah, WI | The impact of the locks reopening could have a major negative impact on the Winnebago fishery and ecological balance. Unfortunately, it looks like this plan will go through. The idea of a boat lift/transfer station at the Rapide Croche lock doesn't seem to be safe enough to keep foreign species from our waters. I just read an article in the paper the other day that Sea Lamprey numbers in Lake Superior at are all time high numbers and are spreading to tributaries. According to the people who work on the barriers, the numbers of Lampreys are way up.
It's time for fishing clubs, Walleyes For Tomorrow, Sturgeon For Tomorrow and even Ducks Unlimited to stand up and be counted. In my opinion, the Friends of the Fox are just another special interest group. These are people who want to take their boats through the Fox River to the Great Lakes. It doesn't seem to matter to them that they could be, in fact, causing irreparable harm to a great ecological system.
Lake Winnebago has the largest self sustaining Lake Sturgeon population in THE WORLD!!!! Can you imagine what a healthy bunch of Sea Lamprey could do here!!! There's also a host of other creatures that could find a good home here: Spiny Water Fleas, Gobies and dozens of others. If you believe for 1 minute that some guy running a disinfectant station for a few bucks an hour really is going to care about what happens to the Winnebago System you 're kidding yourself. Once this stuff gets in it's here forever.
If these people want to cruise Geen Bay and the Great Lakes they can locate their boats at any 1 of the many fine marinas located there. This looks to me like a group wanting to open bars, resturants and gift shops along the river and show off their boats. There are more anglers and hunters on this system than pleasure boaters. We had better watch this closely and do something before it's too late.
I've followed this pretty closely and have yet to see a statement from the DNR anywhere. If Kendall Kamke reads this I would like to hear his/their opinion. Let's not forget some of the websites based around here too. We can ALL do something. It'll take a lot to educate the public on the serious impact this will have.
Dale Frank
On the shores of Lake Winnebago | |
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Location: upper michigan | I am not sure exactly but when i fished the MWS in Winnebago i caught a sturgeon that had what appeared to be a small lamprey on it i took it off and killed but just assumed that as winnebago is attached the the grewat lakes that the lamprey would be there. Is there another smaller species that looks like a lamprey? | |
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Location: Menasha, WI | Dale,
Thanks for the post. I am in total agreement that opening the locks is a BAD idea. I will do what I can to help stop it.
Butch,
Freshwater lampreys are native in Wisconsin’s waters. Some are parasites and some are not. These lampreys live in balance with their natural food chain and don't deplete fish populations. The sea lamprey is bad news.
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Location: upper michigan | I wasnt sure I just assumed it was a lamprey and that they where found in that body of water. Now I have done a little research and got some answers. I have killed secral lamprey that where on salmon i caught out of the great lakes and one that i caught in a smelt net. This one looked exactly the same but was only about 6 or seven inches long and about as big around as a pencil. | |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | I agree guys. Opening the locks so pleasure boaters can traverse the system is a bad idea. This sounds like a typical political move to create more businesses along the system. I for one am totally against introducing these exotic species and parasites into this fishery. It's bad enough big business and politics have to stick their nose into everything else in this society. We don't need them ruining our waters for financial gain. I will do whatever I can to get a petition started via email and find out who to send it to in order to voice our opinion and stop this madness. | |
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Location: Neenah, WI | I just wanted to bring this back with some news. I just got the Otter Street Fishing Club newsletter yesterday and one of the questions in there asks for our opinions of the Fox Locks reopening. Their next meeting is Dec. 7. I'm sure that even if you're not a member (dues are 10 bucks a year or $100 lifetime) they would like to hear from you and have your support.
Thanks,
Dale Frank
P.S. Their addres is Box 271 Oshkosh, WI 54903 | |
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| Butch, what you saw was either a silver or chestnut lamprey, native to most inland waters. | |
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| I sent an email to Jim Doyle on this last year and I think I let everyone know the response I got a month and a half later from him.
This whole thing is about money and I think it is already too far gone for us to do a thing about it. I mentioned the spread of exotics into the Winnebago system as the major concern for this project. His response was all about the economics.
Jim Doyle could care less about gobies, or lamprey or whatever else could harm the fishery. I could hardly believe how cold and non caring his response was to me as a sportsman. As much as I would like to believe with some of the great organizations around Winnebago that we do have a say....we don't.
As was said earlier. Draining bilges and spraying down boats at the Rapid Croche lock is a laughable solution. The only reason that provision is even talked about is to keep people like us quiet. The politicians no damn well it isn't going to work either but like I said they don't care. When Winnebago has an infestation of more exotics they still won't care, but us fisherman and sportsman will be left to deal with the destruction caused by them.
This is a very sad situation and I feel it goes to show how little of a voice we truly have in the grand scheme of things.
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Location: Rockford MN | The major problem is it takes big money to fight big money! You can bet that alot of the folks that want this to go through have the right people heading it. The people with the money in this country run this country, they get the people they want in the offices it takes to control what they want. Sad but true. Money breeds greed, it's called having your cake and eating it too. Once you start seeing million dollar homes on the lake you can bet things are going to change shortly there after. These folks could care less about fishing, they want to spend there weekends boating. The lake turns into nothing more than another highway and it's gonna run right through your yard, because they can make it happen! Long term effects mean little to most people in charge, it's about the here and now. Local business will never fight against money, the more people with money that come the better. We sportsmen will NEVER stop what they call progress because they can dump millions into showing everyone why these such things are good (all be it just for them). This is a tough fight that the sportsmen of Lake Winnebago can never win. Even if this turns bad for the lake, once the businesses get in there it will be hard to get anything reversed.
You can only hope that someone see's the light and takes drastic steps to keep the waters clear of the exotics. This will only happen after they are present, that you can count on. It's the old "oops" sorry "We never thought that would happen" then more money (by us) will have to be payed to clear up the mess. I hope it comes out alright, alot of people fish that lake! | |
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Group hopes to start restoring Fox River locks in three years