Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Streambank "platform" lets fish take cover

Fish - especially trout and salmon - can't maintain their position in swift water very long. They need predator-free hiding places along the stream bank where they can rest before making forays into swifter water for food. Natural fish cover was in short supply at an M-89-Sand Creek culvert in Allegan County, Michigan, so Michigan Department of Transportation contractors built a cover device out of two sheets of exterior plywood laid end to end on posts and covered with a layer of sod. To slow the current, they placed large boulders in the stream near the devices. The result? More trout and salmon are present in this stream section than ever before

--Apr 25, 2003

Gerri Ayers, (517) 373-2227 or ayersg@michigan.gov

Sod-topped fish cover device along bank of Sand Creek

Photo by Thomas Killingsworth, Michigan Department of Transportation

Sod-topped fish cover device on Sand Creek at M-89

On or Along Waterways - Michigan