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Posted

I just ran across this and found it to be interesting:

 

Forest Preserve District Partners with University of Illinois on Smallmouth Bass Research
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Delegates from the Japan Ecosystem Conservation Society on a recent visit to the Urban Stream Research Center.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s Board of Commissioners has agreed to extend the University of Illinois Natural History Survey’s use of the Urban Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville to study smallmouth bass in the West Branch of the DuPage River.

The university will pay the District $18,000 to use the center as a remote field station and will share its research with the District. Its researchers are already electronically tracking tagged smallmouth bass they released into the river.

“This is pretty exciting,” said Forest Preserve District of DuPage County President Joe Cantore. “We’ve always had a great relationship with U of I, and we’re looking forward to many more years of our partnership in the future.”

Scott Meister, assistant manager of Natural Resources at the District, said the university approached the District about the project because of recently completed restoration work along more than 8 miles of the West Branch, which included the removal of two low-head dams.

“The research will give us better insight into the ecology of smallmouth bass that live in this urban river — how and where they travel, where they live, and how they survive. It’s a pretty unique situation,” Meister said. “Agreements like this also help us offset the cost of operating the Urban Stream Research Center.”

Ecologists at the Urban Stream Research Center — the only one of its kind in Illinois — monitor county streams and conduct water-quality and aquatic-species research. The District also partners with local conservation groups, universities and other institutions on research in similar areas. If new water-quality regulations are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it’s likely the District will see increased requests for use of the center, according to Erik Neidy, District manager of Natural Resources.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County has been connecting people to nature for 100 years. More than 4 million people visit its 60 forest preserves, 145 miles of trails, five education centers and scores of programs each year. For information, call 630-933-7200 or visit dupageforest.org, where you can also link to the District’s e-newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube pages.

# # #

Source:
Scott Meister, Natural Resources
630-933-7081 | smeister@dupageforest.org

Contact:
Deb Humiston, Communications & Marketing

- See more at: http://dupageforest.org/smallmouthbassresearch/#sthash.RgS5GymG.dpuf

 

Posted

Very interesting report Ed. I wonder if the ISA could get involved by offering some volunteer hours for helping to collect data?

Posted

On Sunday July 26th we will be working with Jessi DiMartini of the urban stream research center to plant water willow plugs in a restored section of the Du Page river. That will be a good starting point and we can use it as an opportunity to find out where else we can be of assistance to them.

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