Adapting lake fisheries via cooperation:

The Midwest Glacial Lakes PartnershipAndrew L. Rypel (Wisconsin DNR)

Primer on fisheries management

Habitat

PeopleFish

Columbian Lake, Waupaca County, WI Lake Beulah, Walworth County, WI

Source: IPCC Synthesis Report

Fish

Habitat

People

Funding of fisheries management

About

• Formed in 2009

• > 40K lakes

• 3 key components

(Science, Conservation,

Outreach)

• $2.16M in projects

From 2013-2015:

• 8.5K lake surface acres protected by easements and erosion mitigation

• 7K lake acres reconnected

• Outreach to 61K stakeholders

MGLP Footprint

Proposed FY17 Projects

MGLP Science + Data Team

Joe Nohner, MI DNR

MGLP Coordinator

Peter Jacobson, MN DNR

Gretchen Hansen

MN DNR

Kevin Wehrly, MI DNR

MGLP Science Team Lead

Andrew Rypel, WI DNR

How can we prioritize lakes for rehabilitation work?

Science team project 1:Lake fisheries + habitat assessment

Predicted fish species presence for

~40,000 lakes (Temp is the key driver)

Coldwater Northern Pike

Walleye Bluegill

Current and future distribution of

walleye

Resilient for all cold- and cool-

water fishes

Ste

war

dsh

ip in

Bu

ffer Vigilance

Protection Opportunity

Rehabilitation opportunity

Best MgtPractices

Achieve Realistic goals

(Partial Rehab)

Achieve Realistic goals

(Partial Rehab)

Ag + Development in Catchment

Factors to consider when prioritizing

lakes for rehabilitation

Factors to consider when

prioritizing lakes for rehabilitation

Pro

tect

Vig

ilance

Rehab

Opportunity

BMPs

Partial Restoration

Partial Restoration

Big Green Lake, Wisconsin

Science team project 2: Documenting and

modeling Cisco extirpations

Observed extirpation of Cisco

populations

Random Forest Cisco Extirpation Model

418 DD 80 DD

Collaboration with UW-Madison

Andrew Rypel, WI DNR

Madeline Magee, UW-Madison

Peter McIntyre, UW-Madison

Jordan Read, USGS

Date

Dep

th (

m)

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

02468

101214161820 0

5

10

Dep

th (

m)

02468

1012141618

0

10

20

30

DO(mg/L)

Temp(°C)

Dep

th(m

)

Oxythermal niche

3

0

2

0

1

0

01

0

5

0

0

6

12

180

6

12

18Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Nov Dec

Future goals

• Hindcast (40 y) and

forecast (to 2100) daily

lake simulation models

(using super computing)

for all Cisco lakes in

Wisconsin

• Expand across all lakes

in the MGLP partnership

• Work with agencies and

MGLP to prioritize lake

habitat rehabilitation

• Focus on land

management!

Extirpation

P reduction

Forest Management

Healthy lands = healthy fish(But…this is not traditional thinking!)