Near the end of February, 2005, there was a massive spill of manure into the West Branch of the Sugar River. That caused a major fish kill and might force the river back onto a federal list of degraded waters after years of restoration by environmental groups. It essentially undoes a great deal of 30 years and over $2 million of work done to restore this stream.
Local media coverage:
WORT Interview with Frank Fetter, USRWA Executive Director (4.1mb mp3)
Liquid
manure threatens Sugar River (Capital Times)
More
dead trout, but survivors too (Capital Times)
Falk:
Stop winter manure spreading (Capital Times)
More
manure spread even after fish killed (Capital Times)
Manure Runoff Endangers Restoration (Wisconsin DNR)
Hundreds Of Trout Die In Sugar River (Channel3000.com)
Sugar River Contaminated (WKOW-TV)
And from the Associated Press:
Manure Blamed for Killing Wisconsin Trout (on ABC News, but dozens of newspapers across the US picked up this story)
For information on how you can help preserve
the Upper Sugar River, contact:
Upper Sugar River Watershed Association
207 East Main Street
PO Box 314
Mount Horeb, WI 53572
execdr@usrwa.org
608.437.7707