National Fish Habitat Action Plan

Chalk Creek supports an extensive, connected Bonneville cutthroat trout population, which occupies approximately 111 miles of contiguous stream habitat. Two on-channel ponds on a tributary to the South Fork of Chalk Creek were constructed in the 1950’s and have fragmented another 1.6 miles of occupied habitat.

Although on-channel ponds are generally considered deleterious to native fish populations, these two ponds were viewed as being potentially beneficial. For example, no lacustrine habitat occurs within the Chalk Creek drainage, and these ponds provide an opportunity for a portion of the population to exhibit high growth rates in ideal conditions. These ponds also provide a potential source of fish population expansion efforts within the upper Weber River Subbasin.

Glacial lakes are natural lakes that were formed by glacial activity and are an abundant and recognizable feature of the landscape over much of the upper Midwest.  For example, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin each boast of more than 10,000 natural lakes over 10-acres in size within their respective boundaries. The Prairie Pothole Region of the county is an important waterfowl production area for North America and includes portions of eastern Dakotas, western Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. Clearly, these glacial lakes are a regionally and nationally significant economic and cultural natural resource and yet they are increasingly threatened by a number of human-driven factors affecting sustainable fish and wildlife habitats. These drivers are not universally distributed across the region, but rather most intensely affect glacial lakes on a gradient generally oriented from south to north.

http://www.midwestglaciallakes.org/