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August 08, 2025
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with help from many conservation partners, is halfway through completion of a $5 million grant project to remove 27 stream barriers, including 16 DNR-managed dams. Efforts to date have reconnected more than 140 miles of streams.
Funding for this work was awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s America's Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (formerly the America the Beautiful Challenge), which seeks to conserve and restore aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, improve resilience to flooding and other threats, and expand community access to nature.
The DNR was awarded grant funding in 2022, and work on the project began in June 2023. Since that time, the following components have been completed:
"Funding from this partnership helped us restore connectivity to two major fisheries (Five Mile and Wycamp creeks) for LTBB citizens,” said Samuel Day, Great Lakes fisheries research specialist at Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. “The new crossings make it easier for native fish like suckers to migrate from Lake Michigan to their spawning grounds and will help sustain these fisheries for generations to come.”
Other completed aspects of the project also have yielded positive ecological and community effects. Removal of the Altona Dam on the Little Muskegon River has helped reconnect 116 miles of streams and tributaries and restore natural stream function. Native grasses and shrubs were installed in fall 2024, and native shade trees were planted in spring 2025. According to the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly, which partnered with the DNR on this effort, a public-access kayak launch is planned at the site, and additional ways to improve public river access on the Little Muskegon are being explored, too.
Funding from this grant also allowed the Conservation Resource Alliance and West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission to implement critical stream restoration and sediment mitigation efforts for the removal of Marshville Dam on Stony Creek in Oceana County.
“With this funding, over 4,000 cubic yards of sediment were prevented from washing downstream, and more than 130 habitat structures were installed in a section of the stream impacted by the dam,” said DJ Shook, senior project manager and biologist at the Conservation Resource Alliance. “Early feedback from anglers indicates that this investment has led to larger and more abundant fish being caught in this hidden gem of a stream.”
An additional 11 projects are slated for action in 2026. The outcomes from all of these projects will serve to address public safety, protect valuable natural resources, and improve the ability of the DNR to focus management efforts and resources on dams in places that provide high-quality resource benefits and public use.
Many of the removal projects that are called “dams” aren’t really serving as dams but are barriers that require removal for public safety and better fish movement upstream and downstream. The following four projects slated for removal are located in the channel but serve no useful purpose and prevent fish from moving upstream: Carr Creek Fish Barrier (Delta County), Big Trout Lake Fish Barrier (Marquette County), Buckhorn Creek Dam (Mecosta County) and East Branch Dam (Oscoda County).
An additional four projects are remnants of the state’s fish hatchery and production program. The structures are no longer needed for contemporary production, and their removal is necessary to restore stream banks and also to improve stream connectivity for fish. These project locations include Dana Lake Pike Marsh Dam (Delta County), Thompson Creek Blocking Weir (Schoolcraft County), Almena Hatchery Dams 1–5 and a diversion dam (Van Buren County) and Rapid River Pike Marsh structure (Delta County).
On the North Branch of Cole Creek Road (Lake County), perched and undersized culverts will be replaced with a timber bridge that will span the stream and allow for free movement of fish upstream and downstream and result in less sediment to the stream.
A strong public/private partnership led to a project on Apple Creek, a tributary to the Boardman-Ottaway River (Grand Traverse County). The partnership will remove two dams that, if they were to catastrophically fail, would threaten the health of the watershed.
Lastly, as a matter of public safety and long-term infrastructure planning, Roberts Lake Dam in Cheboygan County will be removed and a culvert meeting modern standards for this location will be installed. The last inspection of the dam showed that it was in poor condition. That, combined with debris accumulation, jeopardizes the road that goes over the dam and increases the risk of flooding. Historical maps and documents suggest that a wetland complex should remain after removal of this dam, which was constructed in the 1940s to raise water levels 2-3 feet. Roberts Lake will be lowered incrementally, using best management practices to protect downstream habitat. The drawdown will not affect Cochran Lake, upstream of this location.
The availability of grant funding has enabled organizations working with the DNR on upcoming construction to pursue these high-priority projects. “The award of America the Beautiful funds has allowed Michigan Trout Unlimited to expedite the removal of two dams, with many more to come, providing invaluable benefit to coldwater streams in Michigan,” said Kristin Thomas, stream restoration director at Michigan Trout Unlimited.
“The Superior Watershed Partnership is pleased to be working with the Michigan DNR to remove three obsolete dams in the Upper Peninsula,” said the partnership’s senior planner, Geraldine Grant, referring to Big Trout Lake Fish Barrier, Carr Creek Fish Barrier and Dana Lake Pike Marsh dams. “Removal of these dams will benefit recreational users, address concerns with aging infrastructure, eliminate public safety risks, and improve river connectivity, aquatic organism passage and climate resiliency.”
Upon completion, nearly 200 upstream miles of Michigan rivers and streams will be reconnected, benefiting at-risk species like the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, pickerel frog, and fluted shell and elktoe freshwater mussels, along with countless other aquatic species.
All of the work for the America's Ecosystem Restoration Initiative project is expected to be completed by January 2027.
This project may be halfway to the finish line, but dams remain a big challenge for the state of Michigan, especially when many dams weren’t designed for their current uses or to current construction standards.
Josh Leisen, senior project manager at Huron Pines, said, “Huron Pines recognizes the maintenance burdens and threats to freshwater resources that aging dam infrastructure poses across northern Michigan. Huron Pines will be managing the removal of two DNR Fisheries Division dam structures in 2025: the Mio Walleye Pond Dam in Oscoda County and the McAlpine Trout Pond Dam in Mackinac County (shown above). These projects will restore river processes and fish passage while eliminating deteriorating dams from the landscape.”
Removing dams that pose ecological and public safety risks is a priority for the DNR. While dam removals come at a cost, and additional funding will be needed to finance removal projects, repairing and maintaining dams – especially those that no longer meet management goals and environmental best practices – is an even greater expense.
The DNR currently manages over 200 dams statewide, most of which were built well before modern construction techniques, engineering standards or regulatory safety guidelines. While funding to support removals and repairs has been difficult to secure, one bright spot is the $15 million Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed in her budget for the next fiscal year to remove, maintain and conduct engineering studies on critical dams, improving community safety, restoring river health and enhancing wildlife habitats. Those dollars could go a long way in aiding the agency’s ongoing effort to assess the condition and sustainability of dams, a critical part of the DNR’s work in managing Michigan’s natural resources.
More information about the America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative is available at nfwf.org/programs/americas-ecosystem-restoration-initiative. To learn more about DNR dam management, visit Michigan.gov/DNRDams.
Accompanying photos are available in this folder. Corresponding caption and credit information follow.
