Adopt-A-Bridge/Stream Watch

 In-Stream/Riparian Habitat Improvement

We will continue supporting the Mad River Watershed Steering Committee and take the lead role for planning and implementing projects for in-stream habitat improvement. The Mad River Steering Committee received a new U.S. EPA 319 Grant through Ohio EPA for water quality protection activities in the Upper Mad River Watershed. A portion of the Grant is earmarked for riparian and in-stream habitat improvement. In 2003, much of our efforts will be on planning, implementing, and maintaining in-stream habitat and recreational access at Pimtown Rd., the Watson property, St. Rt. 29, and St. Rt. 36. If plans and agreements get finalized as planned, Mad Men TU will be supporting a unique in-stream habitat improvement - - the “unchannelization” of Mac-O-Chee Creek on the Piatt Castle property. ODNR and the MCD have the lead on this project. . Since January 2003, hundreds of volunteer hours have been spent on the river. We’ve worked on cleaning up log-jam debris from the summer storms and the in-stream habitat improvement project at the Watson Property - - Mad River Farm Market.

Stream Sampling/Monitoring

Another major effort is the stream-monitoring program that is coordinated by Jeff Johnson; this program provides a “snapshot” of the health of the Mad River as well as baseline data for various stream impairment and water quality issues of the watershed. Mad Men TU data and information will be evaluated and integrated with data from Ohio EPA stream surveys for a “full” survey that Ohio EPA conducted this summer; the last one was done in 1994.

Mac-O-Chee Creek

Besides the in-stream/riparian habitat improvement activities coordinated by the Madmen Chapter of TU, ODNR Div. of Wildlife is sponsoring a stream restoration project for a portion of MacOChee Creek on property owned by Piatt Castles. That project is scheduled to begin during the spring of 2007. Check the ODNR web site or the Piatt Castle web site for more information

Ohio Brook Trout

The Ohio Division of Wildlife, Ohio EPA, and Geauga Park District’s Department of Natural Resource Management is currently involved in a brook trout research effort that’s goal is to develop a regional (Ohio) Habitat Suitability Index (HSI). HSI’s are basically an assortment of criteria related to a species and its habitat requirements that allow fisheries biologists to better predict the probability of success or failure of that species in a given habitat.  To date, physical and chemical data on 16 brook trout streams have been collected and are now being analyzed for indicators of successful Ohio brook trout streams.
http://www.geaugaparkdistrict.org/NATURE/btrout.html

There is also an initiative to develop a new brook trout exhibit at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo at the Wolf Cabin area. Funding for this project is not yet fully secured, but a large portion is funded through conservation organizations and county park systems in Northeast Ohio.

 Mad River Fishing Survey

On September 30, 2007, 14 people participated in a fishing survey of Mad River. Of those participating, 6 were from COFF and the remainder were from the Clearfork (Mansfield/Wooster) and Emerald Necklace (Cleveland) Chapters of Trout Unlimited (TU). We fished four separate stretches of the Mad and landed and released 25 brown trout. Twenty of those were in the 6 to 11 inch range and five were in the 12 to 13 inch range. Most fish were taken on beadhead nymphs with a few taken on elkhair caddid dry flies. Proceeds from the event went to Casting for Recovery (CFR) http://www.castingforrecovery.org/midwest.html. Please support CFR by contributing to Mary Lee Hahn. You can contact her at mlhahn@earthlink.net

Great company, great food and great fishing equal a great day!

Photos:Skip Nault and Randy Rowe with a nice brown trout. Randy, Skip, Tim Sheldon and Tom Allen won the group award for most fish caught. They landed 13 trout between them.
Photo: Tom Allen with a nice brown.
Photos: Everyone enjoying lunch.

Mad River Watershed In-Stream/Riparian Habitat Improvement Project Summary