Upcoming Macroinvertabrate Surveys for the Little Manistee River 2024:
Friday May 10, 2024: Mason-Lake Conservation District, Symon Cronk, Biologist, is organizing groups for 3 sites on the Little Manistee River between Irons and Luther. Volunteers will meet at the ORV parking lot next door to Club 37 at 10:00 am. Plan on 3-4 hours of time to collect and process the aquatic insects. Call or email Symon to sign up, 231-519-2513 or symon.cronk@macd.org.
Saturday May 11, 2024: Manistee Conservation District, Tyler Dula, Conservation Tech, is organizing groups for 9 sites on the Manistee River and Little Manistee River. Volunteers will meet at the 9:00 am at the Bear Lake Conservation District Office, Plan to finish up about 2 pm, possibly sooner. hours of time to collect and process the aquatic insects. Call or email Tyler to sign uptyler.dula@macd.org or 231-889-9666 ext 3005.
2023 Results
The Macroinvertebrate Survey (aka Bug Study) for 2023 was completed in May and again in October. THANKS ALL VOLUNTEERS! YOU ARE SUPER COLLECTORS!
October update We had a rainy fall after a very dry summer. Insect numbers varied somewhat but remain in the Very Good to Excellent range.
Changes coming in Water Quality Program testing for chemical, bacterial and physical characteristics: It has been our tradition to collect water samples annually to provide a snap-shot of the what we consider to be good indicators river health for the LMR. Joyce, our Water Quality Control Coordinator usually coordinates and carries out the program with the help of volunteers. This past summer, she was not able to complete the project due to unexpected events. For the next season, we may change how we have been conducting the program to be more efficient, take advantage of some new technology, and still produce some meaningful data to satisfy our monitoring efforts. More on this in our Spring/Summer 2024 Newsletter.
Mecosta & Osceola-Lake Conservation District – Asst. – Mark Sweppenheiser, Dist. Mgr, Alex Svoboda, MAEAP Tech., www.mecostacd.org
LMWCC – Joyce Durdel, WQ Coord., Armas Soorus, Pres., Wayne Anderson, Proj. Coord., Jim Squier, V. Pres., www.lmwcc.org
LMWCC – MCD/MLCD Interns. Tech 2021/2022
Abbey Hull
Alicia Symanski
Chelsea Cooper
Memories from past studies
Study volunteers Nov 2020Study volunteers Nov 20202020 November Macro Studya very fine stone fly!Macroinvertabrate Survey team May of 2017 – LMWCC Volunteers gauge water quality by collecting and identifying aquatic insects-foreground-background – Toby,( canine), Armas Soorus, Jim Squier, Joyce Durdel, Sylvie Squier, and Tim Phillips.Kayla Knoll, Manistee Conservation District, at Magoon Creek Nature DayVolunteers John and Becca search for aquatic insects below Queen’s Highway
Annual Macro-invertebrate Survey
Upcoming Macroinvertabrate Surveys for the Little Manistee River 2024:
2023 Results
The Macroinvertebrate Survey (aka Bug Study) for 2023 was completed in May and again in October. THANKS ALL VOLUNTEERS! YOU ARE SUPER COLLECTORS!
October update
We had a rainy fall after a very dry summer. Insect numbers varied somewhat but remain in the Very Good to Excellent range.
Changes coming in Water Quality Program testing for chemical, bacterial and physical characteristics: It has been our tradition to collect water samples annually to provide a snap-shot of the what we consider to be good indicators river health for the LMR. Joyce, our Water Quality Control Coordinator usually coordinates and carries out the program with the help of volunteers. This past summer, she was not able to complete the project due to unexpected events. For the next season, we may change how we have been conducting the program to be more efficient, take advantage of some new technology, and still produce some meaningful data to satisfy our monitoring efforts. More on this in our Spring/Summer 2024 Newsletter.
2023 project partners:
2022 Results
The Macroinvertebrate Survey (aka Bug Study) for 2022 was completed in both May and October.
Download the full report: 2022-2016 Macro-Survey LMWCC
Stream Quality Score Rating using the MiCorps Volunteer Stream Monitor Program standards:
EXCELLENT= 0.0-3.50 VERY GOOD = 3.51-4.50 GOOD = 4.51-5.50 FAIR = 5.51-6.50 FAIR/POOR = 6.51-7.50 POOR 7.51-8.50 VERY POOR = 8.51-10.0
this is healthy stream.
2022 project partners:
LMWCC – MCD/MLCD Interns. Tech 2021/2022
Memories from past studies
Previous reports
VSMP Stream Report 2021 – Chelsea Cooper, Manistee Conservation District