Having space to enjoy recreating along your shoreline is great. Grandkids play in the shallows, you launch your kayak from there, install your dock, or just wade into the water. But you are not the only one who relies on access to the shoreline and the shallow area in front of your property. Fish, turtles, frogs, and other organisms rely on the area where land meets water to survive. Woody debris along the shoreline also helps break wave energy that causes erosion. So, can you find a balance between recreation and supporting lake health? Read more to see what YOU can do to support the health of Lake Leelanau and the other creatures who live in it.
Shorelines and Shallows
The nearshore habitat of a lake is an incredibly important place for the creatures that live in it. This area:
- Provides Nursery Grounds for Fish: Nearshore areas are often teeming with juvenile fish, making them crucial nursery grounds. They offer abundant food sources and protection from larger predators, allowing young fish to grow and thrive before venturing into deeper waters.
- Supports the Food Web: Nearshore habitats nurture the base of the food web, providing sustenance for adult fish and other wildlife. They support diverse prey species, including forage fish, which are a critical food source for walleye, bass, pike, and other predators. The health of nearshore ecosystems directly influences the overall health and productivity of the entire lake environment.
- Promotes Habitat Complexity and Variety: Nearshore areas offer a diverse range of habitats, including aquatic vegetation, woody structures, and rocky or sandy beaches. This complexity provides various niches and resources, supporting a greater diversity of fish species.
- Protection from Predators: Nearshore habitats provide refuge from predators, particularly for juvenile fish and amphibians. Shelter from strong waves, as well as vegetation and structure for hiding from predators, is crucial for fish survival.
- Creates Basking Areas: Trees and other woody debris provides basking areas for turtles who need the sun to keep their cold-blooded bodies warm.
- Improves Foraging and Habitat Connectivity: Nearshore areas provide a rich source of food, including insects and other invertebrates, for adult amphibians. These habitats also connect aquatic and terrestrial environments, facilitating amphibian movement and dispersal between breeding grounds and their preferred terrestrial habitats.
And the list goes on! These are just a few examples, but nearshore habitats are essential for the health and survival of fish and other wildlife populations. Recognizing and protecting these vital areas is crucial for maintaining a healthy lake ecosystem.
Restoring the Shoreline with Woody Debris
Woody debris is a blanket term for any partially or fully submerged trees and branches in the nearshore areas of a lake. You might also hear it called fish sticks, turtle logs, coarse woody structures, bundled wood debris, drop trees, or shoreline woody habitat.
In addition to providing a lot of the benefits listed above, woody debris has the added benefit of breaking up wave energy, helping to control erosion and improve water clarity by preventing the suspension of sediment.
Many field studies at northern inland lakes (Christensen, 1996; Sass, 2006) have documented that parcel-by-parcel shoreline development has significantly removed live trees and vegetation. Typically, removal extends to near-shore submerged trees, limbs, branches, roots, and wood fragments. Aerial drone data collected in LLLA's shoreline survey confirms this situation is true for much of Lake Leelanau.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) cite that forty percent of Michigan’s inland lakes have poor lakeshore habitat, leading to poor biological health.
As the rhyme goes: Wood is Good!
Other Ways to Protect Nearshore Habitat
Avoid dredging the shoreline! Our construction season aligns with many fish spawning seasons from mid-May to July. The survival of fish relies on the nearshore habitat, and dredging that area severely threatens them.
What Can We Do With Woody Debris?
If woody debris has recently fallen onto your shoreline, the best thing to do is leave it be! Often there is plenty of room to re-wood within, say, a 100-foot shoreline to accomplish homeowner recreational wants and lake health objectives.
If you do not have any existing debris, however, intentional restoration of aquatic habitats on our shorelines is recognized by EGLE as a best management practice. Re-wooding the waters means installing, placing, and securing partially or fully submerged trees and branches in nearshore areas where little to none exist today.
Trees and branches that naturally fall into the lake can be retained as part of an “aquatic garden” of native plants and features within your riparian area. However, the planned installation of shoreline or near shore woody structures requires a permit from EGLE, typically under Minor Permit or General Permit categories. For a guide on how to apply for a permit to add woody debris, read our article here.
Want some extra guidance? Schedule a free Shoreline Consultation with LLLA's trained Shoreline Ambassadors to learn how you can improve your shoreline and nearshore habitat.
Planning Your Woody Structure Project
Such woody structures will vary, project to project. Tree diameters of 6 to 10 inches are common—singly or grouped. Recently live trees are preferred, 20 to 40 feet long. The tree shape and branches can be left “as is” or trimmed to improve placement objectives. Please consider the water depth (approximately 2 to 5 feet for the diversity of fish species) for much of the structure’s length.
EGLE requires the woody structures to be secured. Project site characteristics for wind and wave energy, as well as ice heave occurrences, may call for a more robust design to keep the structure in the long term. Published design suggestions (Fish Sticks, 2014) indicate that 3/8-inch galvanized steel works well when looped around the butt end of the tree and secured with cable clamps. The shoreline end goes around a live tree trunk (protected with a garden hose to prevent girdling) or a sturdy anchor on shore. Some projects secure the cable to deep-set steel or wooden fence posts. Where the lateral movement of grouped fish sticks is a concern, ¼ inch in the cable is connected at selected intersections of the logs.
While homeowners can accomplish these projects, landscape/shoreline restoration firms have the experience and heavy machinery necessary. Len Allgaier, CEO of Peninsula Pavers, Inc., notes:
“If steel cable is not practical to secure the fish sticks and turtle logs, I like to trench about one-third of the trunk length (landward) in the soil, using wood stakes within the trimmed branches, particularly where a shoreline vegetative buffer project is envisioned.”