Add Mining Damage To DNR Trout Fishing Discussion

The Wisconsin DNR is soliciting public input on trout fishing issues. 

Good, timely issue.

So tell the agency that 35 years of dynamiting, drilling, clear-cutting, hauling, dumping and milling for iron ore across miles of the Bad River watershed in Northwestern Wisconsin near Lake Superior will be bad for the trout streams there.

About those waters, experts say: 

The Tyler Forks sub watershed contains 85.6 miles of designated trout streams and 40 miles of designated Outstanding/Exceptional Resource Waters (O/ERW). The Upper Bad River sub watershed contains 103.7 miles of trout streams and 53.9 miles of O/ERW. Combined, this is 31 percent of the trout waters and 25 percent of the outstanding and exceptional resource waters in the Bad River Watershed. 

Outstanding/Exceptional Resource Waters are designated as the state’s highest quality waters. These waters provide outstanding recreational opportunities, support valuable fisheries and wildlife habitat, have good water quality, and are not significantly impacted by human activities. As such, these designations are intended to meet federal Clean Water Act obligations requiring Wisconsin to adopt an “anti-degradation” policy that is designed to prevent any lowering of water quality. Designated waterways potentially impacted by mining activity include Tyler Forks River, Bull Gus Creek, Ballou Creek and Devils Creek.