For immediate release: 4/10/08

Working with volunteers to improve fish habitats ...
GRDA Planning 2008 "Rush For Brush" Workshops

Vinita — Hoping to build on the tremendous success of its 2007 “Rush For Brush” workshops, the Grand River Dam Authority Ecosystems Department is gearing up for the 2008 workshops, with the first one scheduled for Lake Hudson on Friday and Saturday, April 18 and 19.

“We were very pleased with the success we had in 2007,” said GRDA Ecosystems Management Director Dr. Darrell Townsend, “and the volunteers we had for both the Lake Hudson and Grand Lake events deserve all of the credit for that success. We are anxious for the opportunity to work with them again this year.”

GRDA’s Rush For Brush is a concentrated effort to improve the fish habitat in its lakes. At the workshops, GRDA provides the materials necessary to build the “spider block” habitats and lake area volunteers provide the muscle and manpower. Volunteers who help build the habitats on Friday can then pick them up and deploy them in their favorite fishing spot on the lake on Saturday. Working together, volunteers and GRDA built 815 “spider block” habitats for deployment in the lakes in 2007.

Dates and locations for the 2008 Rush For Brush workshops are: April 18-19 (Snowdale State Park, Lake Hudson); April 25-26 (Martin’s Landing, Grand Lake); May 9-10 (Lake Hudson Inn); and May 16-17 (boat ramp between Pensacola Dam’s east spillways, Grand Lake).

“I think its a great thing that the fishermen understand the importance of habitat,” said GRDA Fisheries Coordinator Brent Davis. “Spider block habitat can provide ideal cover for small fish to grow, and that enhances the fishery. In turn, that can help increase future success for anglers.”

According to Townsend, Rush For Brush is just another project utilized by GRDA Ecosystems Department to fulfill the GRDA responsibility of being a good steward for the waters of the Grand River.

“Shoreline cleanup efforts, water monitoring, and other initiatives we have in place are helping GRDA bring a greater focus to lake management and habitat enhancement issues,” said Townsend. “With 70,000 surface acres of water under its control, GRDA has a tremendous responsibility to be a good steward and we are working to be just that, everyday.”

Individuals interested in reserving a workshop kit can contact GRDA Ecosystems' Jackyln Jaggars at (918) 256-5545. For more information on Rush For Brush, GRDA's ecosystems management efforts or other lake related issues, you can also visit grda.com.



Lake area volunteers work to build "spider block" habitats (foreground) during a Grand River Dam Authority Ecosystems Department Rush For Brush event on Lake Hudson in the summer of 2007. Hoping to build on last year's successful workshops, GRDA is gearing up for another round this spring.