ROLLA, Mo.– It was recently announced by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), that the ‘Huzzah Creek Fish Passage Restoration Project’ received funding through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, National Fish Passage Project (BIL-NFPP) funds. The project was awarded $1,459,850 to remove two Huzzah Creek fish passage barriers and replace them with climate resilient bridges located at John Coleman and Seller roads in Crawford County, Mo.
Removing these barriers builds on a recent Huzzah National Fish Passage Program (NFPP) aquatic organism passage project. This will continue to restore natural hydrological conditions and provide open passage to an additional 25 miles of stream habitat for the benefit of federally listed species. Native species that will benefit include endangered eastern hellbender, endangered mussel species (pink mucket, scaleshell, snuffbox, spectaclecase), mussel hosts species (logperch, freshwater drum) and game species (such as the smallmouth bass). Local communities will benefit from reduced maintenance costs, increased safety, and greater public and emergency vehicle access during high-flow events.
Partnerships are crucial to conserving the natural beauty and habitat of our Forest communities. Key partners for this project include Crawford County leadership, USFWS, The Nature Conservancy, and Missouri Department of Conservation. They all worked closely with the Forest Service to collaboratively bring the Huzzah bridge replacement project to a point where it could compete for this type of funding opportunity.
Mark Twain National Forest resource managers are proud to play a role in making this project possible. Mike Joyce is the Forest’s Integrated Resource Office, and he shared, “I want to recognize the hard work that our partners and Forest staff put in to get this project ready for funding, thank the Missouri Aquatic Connectivity Team for being instrumental in so many ways, and share my appreciation with the other key partners that provided leadership to make this possible.”
“I’m also thankful that the US FWS recognized the positive natural resource potential for these improvements and am very glad that this type of funding exists through mechanisms like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” added Mike Joyce.
This is the first BIL-NFPP project to come to Missouri. All partners involved are looking forward to working together to accomplish this work in the coming years. To see updates about this and many other Forest projects, follow us at facebook.com/marktwainnationalforest.
The National Fish Passage Program is a national leader connecting watersheds and people. The program has decades of experience implementing infrastructure projects with partners. Fish passage project proposals can be initiated by any individual, organization, government, or agency.