Volunteers are a vital element to the success of this organization. Individuals and families dedicate time to collect water-quality, macroinvertebrate, and culvert data which, provides a better understanding of the health of this community’s watershed.

Today, three main projects are under way. Read about them and decide how you would like to get involved.

Water Quality: Monitoring water quality in the Bad River Watershed is done by collecting two distinct types of information. The first, Chemistry, provides a snapshot of pollution and sediment found in the water at this precise moment. The second, Macro-invertebrates (insects visible without a microscope), provide a longer range view of river health. Many macro-invertebrates spend the majority of their lives in water. Some of these creatures are extremely sensitive to pollution and their presence (or absence) is a clue to problems in the watershed. Compiling information from both of the sampling techniques can pin-point geographical areas of concern, as well as suggesting possible pollutions causes.

Chemistry volunteers visit their sites the first Saturday of every month. Volunteers are trained to use and assigned portable kits for collecting data. After expressing interest in the program, a new volunteer will learn to use the kit in a two hour training. Once comfortable with the process, volunteers typically spend one to three hours a month collecting field information.
Once a year, there is a quality control session for all chemistry volunteers. This step validates the field data collected and may then be shared with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bad River Tribe Natural Resources Department and other organizations with an interest in water quality in the region.

Macro-invertebrate volunteers visit their sites only twice a year, usually May and September. Although less frequent, macro-invertebrate sampling visits can range from two to six hours. Interested volunteers would first attend a 4 hour training to learn about the sampling procedure, the data record sheet and actually get in the water (in waders).
At their sampling site, volunteers observe physical characteristics of the river including shoreline vegetation, stream shading due to overhead tree canopy, and water velocity (or speed). Insects are gathered by stirring up the river bottom and catching the debris in a small net. One look in the net will reveal the abundant acquatic life of the sample site. All of the insects gathered from the field will later be identified in a lab.
Identifying macro-invertebrates in a lab equipped with micro-scopes is new for many of our volunteers. However, the process is easy to learn with the help of technical supervisors on hand. This lab portion is usually scheduled about a month after the insects have been collected and the process will take between one to four hours.

Fish Passage: No matter how clean the waters of Northern Wisconsin are, one of the most prized resources of the area are constantly challenged to survive by barriers preventing them from reaching their spawning grounds. Due to hundreds of improperly installed culverts, many fish cannot reach their desired spawning grounds, but instead lay broods in areas more susceptible to predation or more competition. Assessing the quality of these culverts is a daunting task as there are over 1,100 road crossings in Ashland County alone!

Culvert assessment volunteers determine whether a culvert is functioning as it should, whether fish can cross under the road, and whether the road is likely to be compromised by the water itself. Individuals are expected to visit 10 road crossings over the course of the summer. With each visit taking between one and three hours (including drive time).