DNR deliver more sturgeon to Menominee

Lieutenant governor on hand to witness repopulation efforts
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

KESHENA — More than 200 people, including Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor, crowded the banks of Chickeney Creek on Wednesday to see the Department of Natural Resources release more than 30 sturgeon into the Wolf River.

The sturgeon deliveries are part of a continuous memorandum of understanding between the DNR and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to bring back sturgeon to its ancestral home. The agreement requires the DNR to deliver at least 100 sturgeon per year — plus 15 for the traditional Menominee sturgeon feast — from Lake Winnebago to the Wolf River in order to reestablish a resident sturgeon population.

It was the first time Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes had even heard of the sturgeon restoration, much less witnessed it in action. He said he helped to load up the sturgeon to be transported to Keshena.

“It was exciting to be a part of it,” Barnes said. “We wanted to be a part of it, and (the tribe) reached out to us, and here we are.”

Barnes described the visit as an opportunity for the administration to strengthen ties with Wisconsin’s Native American tribes. He said he has been making an effort his first year in office to connect with all 11 of the tribes.

“It’s so amazing to be able to bring in our tribal communities with efforts the state is putting forth in partnering and working together,” Barnes said. “I think this is one of those opportunities of positive relations.”

He noted he might make a return trip when the tribe holds the sturgeon feast and pow wow in April.

“It’s not going to take much to convince me,” Barnes said.

Menominee historical experts have said that the sturgeon once traveled up to Keshena Falls for spawning. That natural migration was halted around 1892 when the Shawano dam was built, preventing the sturgeon from traveling past Shawano. The Balsam Row dam was later built in 1928, and for almost 100 years, there were no sturgeon roaming the waters around the falls.

That changed after the tribe worked out a deal with the DNR to haul sturgeon by truck. The memorandum of understanding is due to be renewed in 2020, and Menominee Tribal Chairman Douglas Cox said the tribe will ask for the number of sturgeon delivered annually to go up.

“We’re going to start talking about that next week already,” Cox said. “We want this to be a mechanism for our goal, and our goal is to get sturgeon back up here in historic numbers.”

As for the current efforts, Cox is hopeful that the last decade of cooperation will make it possible for the sturgeon to continue to flourish where they belong.

“This is productive. We’re glad to have the number we do,” Cox said. “Spring will tell the story. When April comes, we want to see them spawning over there.”

However, 90% of the sturgeon will follow their instincts and return down the river to Lake Winnebago, Cox said. Despite that reality, the Menominee continue to come out to see their sacred fish return home.

“You can see the turnout we had today here, and this is a great turnout for us,” Cox said. “We’ve got elders and youth mixed (in the crowd), so you can see why this is important for us.”

The unusually wet weather has not had much of an impact on the overall health of the sturgeon, according to Ryan Koenig, DNR fisheries biologist, but it has affected where the sturgeon migrate.

“The weather changed the location that the fish were in,” Koenig said. “They were concentrated in pools instead of spread throughout the river.”

He is convinced that the sturgeon will continue to flourish, no matter the status of nature.

“These fish have been around for 150 million years and have been through all different kinds of weather patterns and climates,” Koenig said.

He praised the partnership between his agency and the tribe and hopes it will continue for years to come. Koenig is eager to bring up at least 70 or more sturgeon in the spring to satisfy the quota set in the memorandum.

“This program has been successful,” Koenig said. “I would like to continue to work jointly with the Menominee Indian Tribe to help restore lake sturgeon to the Upper Wolf River.”

The memorandum will continue even after 2020 as is if no changes are made by either the tribe or the state, Koenig said.

On a personal level, Koenig enjoys bringing the sturgeon to Keshena Falls. Because a large crew is needed to transport the fish, Koenig is appreciative of the Menominee people who help to move the fish from the truck to the creek below.

“It’s a very rewarding and it makes efforts in planning days like this worth it,” Koenig said.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com