Saving the Last Trout Stream in Calumet County
A beautiful trout stream cannot be allowed to merely slip away to history; it must be preserved for future generations. I have been privileged to work with many who believe this to be true and demonstrated their work on Stony Brook. Our team consisted of the students and educators of Chilton Public Schools, Calumet County landowners, Fox Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Calumet County, The Fund for Lake Michigan, the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership
Stony Brook, which has characteristics of the streams in South West Wisconsin’s driftless area, begins in central Calumet County in a spring fed woodland West of Chilton Wisconsin. It flows East and South through farmland crossing under County F, Court Road, Quinney Road, and Stonybrook Road before emptying into the South Branch of the Manitowoc River South of Highway 151.
My interest began after years of driving past Stony Brook and wondering “could that little stream hold trout?”, I decided to stop and have a look. The stream looked good to my trout bum eye and I became curious and excited. In the weeks that followed, I researched the history of Stony Brook and made time on my drive into school to take stream temperatures. I learned that the stream had been actively managed and stocked by the DNR during the 1970’s but little care or management had occurred in the decades since that time. However, my temperature readings of mid 60 degrees in May were encouraging. “This water could sustain trout” I thought to myself. Looking back, this was the beginning of Chilton Public School’s Trout in the Classroom Program and the Stony Brook Project.
A long time member of Trout Unlimited, I had worked with other stream restoration projects in Wisconsin. I am also passionate about providing experiential, hands-on learning for students. I believe that all meaningful learning and growth is a result of positive relationships, collaboration, and community building. By taking classroom learning into the real, natural world, students have an opportunity to make a first hand connection with science and the environment. Their knowledge becomes solidified, reinforced, and REAL because it is connected to an experience with an emotional tie. Trout in the Classroom does just that.
Trout in the Classroom is a nationally recognized program and curriculum that is designed to make connections between classroom learning with the natural environment and to promote stewardship for the steam and surrounding landscape. Trout in the Classroom (TIC) is an environmental education program sponsored and supported by Trout Unlimited in which students in grades k-12
raise trout fry to releasable size,
monitor aquarium tank water quality,
engage in stream habitat study,
learn to appreciate water resources,
begin to foster a conservation ethic, and
grow to understand ecosystems.
Most programs, including ours, end the year by releasing their trout in a state-approved stream near the school. In our case, Stony Brook is just six miles away.
Stony Brook was worth saving and I began to reach out to others to make it happen. I introduced the idea of Trout in the Classroom to science teachers Greg Sromek and Tracy Bartels. I also contacted then Fox Valley Trout Unlimited President Joe Bach. Joe had explored the watershed a few years earlier and showed interest immediately. He began doing research, contacting existing TIC programs, and gathering knowledge about how to successfully begin a local program. Joe’s positive influence and energy cannot be overstated. Together with Greg Sromek and Tracy Bartels, we wrote a grant through the Chilton Community Foundation to fund the initial start up costs Little by little, the idea of involving students in the revival of Stony Brook took hold in our school district and Chilton community.
2015
In April of 2015, The School District of Chilton was awarded a grant from the Chilton Community Foundation to begin a Trout in the Classroom Program. The funds from the grant allowed for the purchase of two 55 gallon tanks, chillers, filter systems and stabilizing chemicals necessary for start up.
As we talked, Joe Bach and I realized that one of the landowners along Stony Brook had a sixth grade daughter at the middle school. With this connection in mind, Joe knocked on the door of dairy farmer Tim Sohrwiede. Joe began conversations that would eventually lead to both a conservation easement on the property and the future TIC release and field trip site. Tim’s father, Dick and neighbor Andy Pethan have become supporters of the program and have also granted conservation easements.
During November, science teachers at the sixth and tenth grade levels began incorporating TIC lessons into the curriculum and also began the process of stabilizing tank water for the trout fry which would arrive early in 2016.
2016
In January of 2016, water quality tests became part of the classroom routine. Students and teachers fine tuned tank water and procedures in preparation for the arrival of our first batch of Brown Trout fry. In February, we introduced our first trout from the Wild Rose Hatchery into their new temporary home in the classroom. From February until April, students learned about and cared for the trout fry. Students performed daily tank cleaning, tested water quality, and added the proper amount of trout food to the tanks. There was minimal loss of fish and students enjoyed watching trout more than double in size.
On a brisk day in April, students in sixth and tenth grade traveled the short distance to the Sohrweide farm release site. In addition to the actual trout release, the following educational demonstrations were developed and presented.
Danielle Santry, Calumet County Water Resources Specialist presented information about habitat parameters
Joe Bach and Norm Christnacht of Fox Valley Trout Unlimited used kick nets to show and identify aquatic organisms
Judith Hartl from Groundwater Guardians did water temperature, turbidity-transparency and flow rate demonstrations
Korin Doering of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance taught about invasive species.
Adam Nickel, WDNR Senior Fisheries Biologist and his crew from Oshkosh performed electro-shocking along two sections of Stony Brook.
Release day is often very special for students. Each are given the opportunity to plant an individual trout into the stream. They do so with care and respect often saying things like “good luck,” “have a good life,” or “I hope you don’t get eaten up” as they cautiously place the fish in their new home. It is visceral, hands on experience not quickly forgotten. Care for the environment is embedded at a deep level for students. Observers have reflected that the process feels like watching a First Communion.
During the summer of 2016, Joe Bach who is also a trained WAV (Water Action Volunteer) continued his investigation of Stony Brook. Joe, often working with students, collected data over several years that determined Stony Brook has all the attributes, including an enormous food supply, for trout to flourish.
2017
During the 2017 school year, Tracy Bartels began to implement aquaponics into the TIC process. Aquaponics is a process that uses aquarium water to feed plants before the filtering process. In this way, the waste from the fish fertilizes the plants, is refiltered, and returned to the tank. Starting in 2017, Karen Doering and Christopher Acy from Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance taught students about aquatic invasive species as part of TIC release day.
News of our successful program continued to spread within our community and several unconfirmed trout sightings were reported by landowners and their neighbors. I, myself, spent a few hours on the banks of Stony Brook with polarized sunglasses. At this point, I couldn't confirm that our trout were surviving... but I sensed they were.
2018
Early in 2018, work began on signage to identify our field site at the Sohrwiede farm. The three by six foot sign designed and built by Chilton students, recognizes our original stakeholders; Chilton Public Schools, Fox Valley Trout Unlimited, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Calumet County, Groundwater Guardians, Chilton Community Foundation, Winnebago Waterways Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance Program, and the Sohrwiede family. Plans are under way to update or replace the original sign to include Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership and the Fund for Lake Michigan which are our latest stakeholders.
Senior Fisheries Biologist, Adam Nickel used his resources to acquire. on loan, the equipment necessary to implement a PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag array on Stony Brook. Adam, Tracy Bartels, and several students placed two different arrays across the stream designed to detect fish movement. Select fish were “tagged” (a small transponder inserted under the skin of the trout) and re-released. The array electronically detects and records fish movement across the array. Data collected reflects that the majority of planted trout were staying in Stony Brook and not migrating downstream to the Manitowoc River. We now had further proof that planted TIC trout were indeed making their home in Stony Brook.
During the winter months, stakeholders were hard at work making connections and extending the vision for the Stony Brook Project. It was decided to begin planting Brook Trout in addition to Brown trout and also to “hold” a select number of Brown trout in the classroom for a greater time period to allow for greater growth before their release. These select fish were also tagged for use in the PIT Tag array.
Calumet County Water Resources Specialist, Danielle Santry provided and presentented information to Shawn Sullivan and Steve Devitt of the Wild Rose Habitat Station to raise the question of restoring Stony Brook to a Class Trout Stream. Discussion continued with Tracy Hames, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wetland Association. Considering the WAV monitoring data, it was concluded that Stony Brook does, indeed, have the potential to become a Class Trout Stream. Shawn Sullivan and Steve Devitt developed stream improvement drawings and a cost estimate that began a new phase of the Stony Brook Project.
2019
Through several discussions facilitated by Joe Bach and Danielle Santry with Jim Kettler of Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership, Stony Brook’s potential was highlighted and funding sources were explored. Eventually, through a combination of funds from The Fund for Lake Michigan, Calumet County, Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Fox Valley Trout Unlimited more than $83,000 was raised for stream improvement. Because of an unusually wet fall, the scheduled start date of September 1st for improvement work needed to be postponed. Work will now begin in the spring of 2020 and will include curvert replacement and “lunker structure” installation. Discussion is underway for High School related arts students to assemble “lunker structures.”
To everyone’s delight, electro shocking efforts revealed several grown healthy Brown Trout in August of 2019. The largest of which measured 14.5 inches. These beautiful fish were tagged and returned to Stony Brook. Additionally, TIC raised Brook Trout were found in the headwaters. This good news added to our excitement and enthusiasm about Stony Brook’s potential and future!
This project has been a dream and a goal for over a decade and to see it come to life is an honor. The Stony Brook/Trout in the Classroom Project is a true collaborative effort benefiting students, teachers, the Chilton Community, and the larger environment that we all share. It is very likely that lessons and experiences from our local project will be remembered and carried forward into the future by our students.
I am thrilled with the success, follow through, and growth of our Trout in the Classroom program. I cannot thank our stakeholders enough. To date, several hundred students have been positively impacted by our program. This has been and will continue to be a collaborative effort in our community. My sincere thanks go out to ALL of our stakeholders for helping to teach our students a sense of environmental responsibility and, in the process, save the last trout stream in Calumet County.
If you would like to learn more or help with the Stony Brook project, please contact one of our local stakeholders.
Brad Bowman – School Counselor/TIC facilitator (W) 920-849-9152 bowmanb@chiltonsd.org
Joe Bach – Fox Valley Trout Unlimited - joebach1g@gmail.com
Adam Nickel – Senior Fisheries Biologist, Wisconsin DNR - Adam.Nickel@wisconsin.gov
Danielle Santry - Calumet County Water Resource Specialist- danielle.santry@calumetcounty.org
Greg Sromek - Grade Six Science - sromekg@chiltonsd.org
Tracy Bartels – HS Science - bartelst@chiltonsd.org
Brittany Mayer – HS Science - mayerb@chiltonsd.org
Judy Hartl – Calumet County Groundwater Guardians - judithhartl@gmail.com
Christopher Acy- Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance - Chris@fwwa.org
Related Reference Websites
Trout Unlimited, Trout in the Classroom http://www.troutintheclassroom.org
Chilton Public Schools http://146.66.103.48/~chilton4/
Fox Valley Trout Unlimited https://foxvalleytu.org
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources https://dnr.wi.gov/
Calumet County Land and Water Conservation http://www.co.calumet.wi.us/index.aspx?nid=489
Chilton Area Community Foundation https://www.cffoxvalley.org/partners/our-partner-funds/chilton-area-community-foundation/)
Fund for Lake Michigan https://fundforlakemichigan.org/
Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership https://www.lnrp.org/
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance https://fwwa.org/
Written by: Brad Howard Bowman