Au Sable River by lorainedicerbo

Absolute Michigan contributor Scott Allman took a trip to the Au Sable and has produced an interesting piece on reintroducing Michigan white cedar trees along the banks of the Au Sable river.

From the website Cedars for the Au Sable we learn:

The northern white-cedars along the river’s banks provide needed shade to maintain the cold water fishery of the Au Sable river. The presence of the cedar sweepers at the water line provides protection for the fish, increases the amount of large woody debris in the water, as well as the preservation of the riverbank by locking in the soil.

Furthermore the Anglers of the Au Sable website tells us:

In 2003 the Anglers signed a stewardship agreement with Howard Johnson of the Bay City Club. The agreement called for 250 trees over a five year period including their annual maintenance and subsequent replantings along the South Branch in the Mason Tract. Several dedicated members have volunteered their time and talent building cages, clearing ground, planting seedlings or watering growing trees. The cages are built on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend while the seedlings are planted during the annual river cleanup held the following Saturday.

Wikipedia informs us that:

The Au Sable River in Michigan runs approximately 129 miles (208 km) through the northern Lower Peninsula, through the towns of Grayling and Mio, and enters Lake Huron at Oscoda. It is considered one of the best brown trout fisheries east of the Rockies and has been designated a blue ribbon trout stream by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. In French, au sable literally means "with sand." A 1795 map calls it the Beauais River.

There is plenty more at Wikipedia about the Au Sable...