Eglin partnership helps endangered fish

Published June 8, 2007
By Jerron Barnett
Eglin Environmental Public Affairs

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Construction continues on a project at the Eglin Golf Course that will restore habitat in Mill Creek for the federally endangered Okaloosa darter, a fish species only found in six streams in Okaloosa and Walton counties.

The project is the result of a partnership between the Eglin Natural Resources Branch, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Three Rivers Resource, Conservation and Development organization, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Eglin Golf Course.

The project has been regarded by Eglin and USFWS biologists as an important task to accomplish under the Okaloosa Darter Recovery Plan, a plan that was developed to keep the species from becoming extinct.

The Okaloosa darter is a small fish about two inches in length and is one of 11 endangered species that call Eglin home. Eglin's natural resource managers must properly manage these species and their habitat alongside the military mission, as directed by the Endangered Species Act.

More than 90 percent of the stream habitat inhabited by the Okaloosa darter is found on the Eglin reservation. The fish is often found around plants, roots or woody debris along the margins of these shallow streams. Much of the ideal darter habitat found on the golf course had been damaged during course construction.

According to the environmental assessment that was conducted in 2006, the restoration project's objective is to re-design segments of Mill Creek that run through portions of the Falcon golf course to allow the creek to flow freely. The USFWS proposed that the culverts found at Falcon holes #2, 16, and 17 be removed and the stream be diverted into newly created stream channel. Construction workers will also install bridges for golf cart and foot traffic. Native vegetation will be planted in the resulting streambeds and stream banks. The culvert at hole #14 would be replaced with a new culvert that has different intake and outflow points.

The culvert at hole #14 will also contain a special transparent manhole type of cover to allow sunlight to enter the 200-foot culvert, Bill Tate, USFWS fish biologist, said. This added source of light should encourage the fish to swim through it since the fish won't swim in completely dark areas. It may also be feasible to plant some native grasses in there as well.

Mr. Tate added that this will be the first time anyone has attempted to light a culvert in a project of this scale. All told, the result of the project harbors a lot of promise for the species' livelihood.

"Once the Mill Creek restoration project is finished, we estimate that we'll see a population boost of about 1,000 fish in that area," Mr. Tate said. "That's great news for Eglin and great news for the Okaloosa darter."

Great news indeed, agrees Bruce Hagedorn, Jackson Guard's wildlife section chief, as Eglin continues to work towards the eventual delisting of the species from the endangered species list.

Since 1994, Eglin natural resource managers and their partners have made great progress in improving or rehabilitating areas in and around streams where darters are found. Many of these streams had been damaged by erosion or contained some sort of fish passage barrier, Mr. Hagedorn said.

For example, natural resource managers work with civil engineers, USFWS, and contractors to ensure that road crossings on the reservation are properly constructed. Correctly-sized culverts will be used since the fish don't like to swim through dark culvert pipes where they can't see and culverts will be inserted in the ground at the right depth, because fish are unable to swim through "waterfalls" that are created when culverts are not inserted at the correct depth, Mr. Hagedorn added.

As a result of this work, biologists have seen as much as a 25 percent increase in darter populations at many sampling points during annual monitoring sessions, Mr. Hagedorn said.

As natural resource managers anticipate that the Mill Creek project will positively affect the darter population, Paul Wargo, Eglin Golf Course superintendent, doesn't anticipate many inconveniences to their customers due to the project's construction.

"We've strategically placed the tee markers for the affected holes to reduce the impact to our customers," Mr. Wargo said. "We'll have mobile signs on the course that will inform folks of what's going on as well as our outreach billboard inside the golf pro shop. We're making it work."

Mr. Wargo also offered his sentiments of being part of the partnership to get this project going.

"Our entire crew is really excited about the outcome of this project," Mr. Wargo said. "To see all these different government organizations come together like this in such a harmonious way is fabulous. All of us here take to heart our duties of being good environmental stewards and neighbors."