Good Neighbor program helps get forest projects done

When it comes to forestry projects throughout Taylor County, a lot of them go unnoticed. Recently the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, partnered with Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and both Ashland and Taylor County Highway Departments, to replace worn out culverts and improve stream crossings on snowmobile trails.

Taylor County Highway Commissioner, Ben Stanfl ey, stated “We are proud to be a part of this effort to benefit local residents and area tourism. This type of collaboration makes it possible to deliver more for the public good than any one of us could do on our own.”

This project came about when a new snowmobile trail, connecting Taylor County to Price County, which is set to open this year, had several culverts that were in need of replacing. Chris Esker, Forest Hydrologist, for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest for several years, noticed a severe deterioration of culverts within the snowmobile trails.

Another benefit to replacing the culverts, allows loggers to harvest aspen trees northwest of Medford easier. The new culverts will spare the logger from building temporary stream crossings to transport equipment and timber.

Six total culverts were replaced within this trail. Esker and his partners with the National Forest, surveyed the trail over a number of years, and picked the worst of the worst culverts to be replaced. To determine the severity of the culverts, they look for sunken divots in the road, if a metal staff goes through the existing culvert with ease, and also look for washed out portions of the road.

To start the process of replacing the culvert, first the water of the stream has to be blocked off. Then the water that is remaining gets pumped out and re-directed to the other side of the stream. Throughout the entire process of culvert replacement, a pump is re-directing the water to the other side of the stream to prevent water build up on the one side. Once all the water is pumped out of the work area, they can begin clearing the area. When the installation is complete, water will flow freely through the culvert.

Any brush that would be in the way of the new culvert, has to be cleared before they start any digging. Once the brush is clear, a backhoe comes in and starts digging up layers of gravel and pieces of rusted culvert. After the rusty culvert is removed, and the work space is level, a layer of gravel comes in and gets compacted to serve as a base for the culvert. However for this particular project, the team had to dig down another one and a half feet before laying the foundation of gravel for the base of the culvert to even out the flow of the stream.

Most culverts come in one piece and are the traditional cylinder shape, but this one, Esker designed specifi cally to sustain a maximum lifetime of 100 years, surpass large waters, and serve its purpose for the wildlife. This culvert is made out of aluminum, which is lightweight yet can withstand a lot of rough weather, and is constructed in pieces.

The pieces get delivered in a well-fitting manner; however, the order in which the culvert gets installed, is important. There are two tracks along either side of the base to attach the sides of the culverts to the base. There are support pieces throughout the exterior of the culvert that help bear the weight of the gravel that surrounds the culvert once installed.

When it comes to funding, the DNR administers an annual fund called the Good Neighbor Authority-Program Revenue to the Nicolet National Forest. The money from this fund comes from the sales of timber trees on National Forest land throughout the year. All the revenue that is generated, gets used to fund several projects around the area. The funds are used in a variety of other capacities, such as funding for wildlife surveys, wildlife restorations, trout stream restoration projects, marking trees for timber sales and much more.

Heather Berklund, D.N.R. Chief State Forester, said “It’s all one big interdependent system across the landscape, and when we improve something as simple as a culvert, we’re helping restore water quality and forest health, which supports the forest products industry and recreation as well.”

Esker commented “A lot of people throughout the area think that if the funding isn’t available to fix culverts, that filling in where the culvert was will solve the problem. That’s not true, filling in doesn’t serve the same purpose as replacing the culvert entirely.”

If culverts are not replaced, the danger for many of the aquatic species that swim through the current increases. For example, the increase of gravel going through the culvert, can increase the likelihood of suffocation of fish and their eggs. With the culvert being rusted out a pollutant called sediment was being discharged into the stream. While not a toxic pollutant, excess sediment impacts water quality and can reduce fish egg survival.

The ultimate benefits for nature when replacing culverts are restoring stream function, reconnecting aquatic habitats, helping fish and other aquatic species navigate through the forest, and lastly, to help the timber sales throughout the Northwoods.