Pigeon River Country Association Statement

Natural Resources Commission Meeting

August 14, 2008 

Thank you for allowing me to address you about the dam failure and silt spill on the Pigeon River that happened 6 weeks ago on June 23, 2008.

It is, perhaps, worth remembering that this is not the first or even the second time there has been a major accident involving this dam. On May 15, 1957, a 1.09 inch rainfall washed out the dam and produced a 12-foot head of water that roared down the Pigeon River. Luckily no one was fishing at the time and campers received notice to move to high ground in time to avoid injury. Needless to say fishing use dropped almost to zero that year on one of our prime brook trout streams.

The earthworks were replaced with concrete and the dam became known as the Song of the Morning Ranch dam after a yoga ranch that was started on the 800 acre property. On July 3, 1984, the Song of the Morning Ranch dam operators ignored a DNR order to gradually draw down the impoundment to make critical repairs and released large quantities of water and silt from the 65 acre impoundment in their rush to get access to the bottom of the dam’s gates. The result was another silt spill into the Pigeon with the destruction of an estimated 22,000 fish!

The second accident resulted in a four year long court case that resulted in a Consent Order that required, among other things, “implementing an approved dam safety and management program” by the Song of the Morning Ranch so that there would never be another disaster on the Pigeon.

But, on June 23, 2008, there was another failure and a massive release of water and silt into the Pigeon followed by the total closure of the dam for almost an hour.  The impact was dramatic. There were hundreds of dead fish immediately downstream, silt covered the banks and gravel spawning beds, and insect habitat was destroyed. (You might be especially interested in the report of a (dead) 19 inch brown trout a mile downstream from the dam.) The Fisheries Division has spent months of manpower conducting an up to date fish count and evaluation of the damage. They have not yet released their report nor has the DEQ yet announced their analysis of what went wrong at the dam.

Two days after the spill I met a man at the Sturgeon Valley Road bridge a mile downstream from the dam who said he was camping ‘at the Tubes’, a popular campsite a mile further downstream where a family can swim in the Pigeon River. I would guess that he came up there with his wife and kids to spend several days at a lovely primitive campsite in order to give them all some good memories of northern Michigan. But, instead, he said that he couldn’t allow his kids to swim there because the water was so filthy!

A week after the release Rick Kropf and I canoed a three mile stretch of the Pigeon including the part that goes through the Song of the Morning Ranch. The trip started out in a lovely, moderately paced 30 foot wide stream going through forested hills, a couple of meadows, and past an occasional cabin. After a mile or so, the river started to slow and the shores widened and became a grassy plain, 50 to 75 yards wide, and then, as we entered the impoundment, the river itself widened out into an extremely shallow pond, perhaps 150 yards across. We could see blades of grass growing out of the middle of the pond as we looked down towards the dam itself. We had difficulty locating the channel on the right and found that it was no more than five or six inches deep anywhere. Of course we couldn’t see the bottom since there was rich, black silt everywhere.

We portaged across the dam using the steps the Song of the Morning Ranch provided. Then, as we rounded the next bend, we got our first whiff of rotting fish! It was not the last. The gravel beds the trout need to spawn were mostly dark, covered with silt. The water was clearer, but I can only guess at the damage to the insect populations. We took the canoe out after another mile and three more whiffs of rotting fish.

We waited until your August meeting to express our concern with the hope that further information might become available. However the Pigeon River Country Association believes that these reports are not necessary.  It is clear to us that the third disaster in 51 years means that the dam must be removed. Otherwise you can expect to hear of another massive silt release in 2033!

Strong action is required to see that this natural resource remains a quality place for fishermen, wildlife, campers, hikers, and other users. I urge you to see that the Song of the Morning Ranch dam is removed, that the DNR costs for evaluating the damage are reimbursed, and that there is a substantial fine. The Pigeon belongs to all the citizens of Michigan, and they have all been injured by these events. 

Ray Hoobler, President, Pigeon River Country Association