BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Work is underway to help a popular sportfish in the waters of Green Bay.
In the spring, northern pike make their way into area wetlands to spawn, and now, a new construction project within the metro area is taking shape.
Even in the middle of summer, a section of Willow Creek in the Village of Bellevue is able to meander through a six-acre parcel of land. Izaak Walton League Board Member Pete Daanen says the corner of Bellevue Street, and Allouez Avenue may soon be home to migrating fish.
“There are going to be two areas that will be dug out real low. Water will flow in on the high end in the springtime. It will flow out on the low end. The pike will come in here. This will be lined with grass when it’s finished. They’ll spawn in the grass. They’ll go back out naturally into the East River, back to the bay,” said Pete Daanen, Izaak Walton League Board Member.
About two miles to the south At Osprey Point Conservancy, Daanen says another spawning area is ready to go.
“That’s 82 1/2 acres on the East River. There’s also a confluence of Bower Creek there with an un-named creek,” he said.
Conservationists say the effort is designed to replace habitat lost. Jodi Labs is also an Izaak Walton League Board Member.
“They definitely need some help, because there’s been a lot of obstructions put into their path over the years, due to development, culverts, and so forth. So this is just another way for us to assist in having natural spawning habitat for this pike,” said Jodi Labs, Izaak Walton League Board Member.
Officials say they hope to add educational signs, and even an observation deck in the future.
“Slowly but surely, we’re turning this back into a nice, natural setting, which it’s supposed to be. This is just a culmination of a goal that we always set to make things better, to restore and bring things back to what they were. So here we are. We’re doing our thing,” said Daanen.
Work is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks.
The project costs a little more $50,000.
Money from the Fox River Cleanup Project is being used to cover the expenses.
