WHAT IS
Stony Brook
Stony Brook is a clear, hard water stream located in Calumet County and lies within the headwaters of Manitowoc River watershed that eventually flows into Lake Michigan. Stony Brook was stocked with brown trout annually from 1973-1994, with additional stocking in 1998 and 1999. However, stocking efforts were halted due to a lack of return of stocked fish. Habitat loss and degradation over time, including sedimentation and channelization, are thought to be the main factors limiting trout survival.
Recent efforts to assess the stream have indicated that water quality is sufficient for trout survival. Water Action Volunteers (WAV) monitoring protocols have documented an abundance of food in the form of macro invertebrates, and adequate water temperatures, clarity, and flow. The headwaters of Stony Brook lie within a large wooded wetland that helps protect the stream from human stressors, and an aerial assessment of the riparian corridor indicates that the stream is well buffered with exception of a few channelized areas.
A community reconnection to the stream began with a seed from the Trout in the Classroom program at Chilton School District. Looking for a place to release trout fingerlings grown over the winter, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and Trout Unlimited began monitoring Stony Brook. The WDNR determined that the temperature profile of Stony Brook was adequate for trout through deployment of temperature loggers and WAV monitoring over a period of six years. An abundance of water flow and macro invertebrates (food) was found through the WAV monitoring program.
View a map of Stony Brook and the surrounding area; click on the image to view larger. To exit click the black portion found in the pop-up map.
learn about
Friends of
Stony Brook
Friends of Stony Brook (FOSB) is a group of stakeholders who have built a team with the mission of connecting the community to conserve, protect, and restore, and educate on Stony Brook Watershed. The group has three primary objectives for its efforts:
1. Functioning Cold-Water Stream
Stony Brook is a clear, hard water stream located in Calumet County and lies within the headwaters of Manitowoc River watershed. Cold-water trout streams are significantly important waterways and Stony Brook is the only one of its kind in Calumet County. Our Vision is to conserve, protect and restore Stony Brook through developing awareness and educating the public of the crucial role we all play in impacting the health of the upper reaches of the Manitowoc River watershed and ultimately Lake Michigan as a whole.
2. Community Engagement with a Trout in the Classroom Program
Since 2016, Chilton School District (CSD), Fox Valley Trout Unlimited (FVTU), Wisconsin DNR (WDNR), Calumet County Land and Water Conservation Department (CCLWCD), local land owners, and many others have teamed up to further investigate the potential for Stony Brook to provide a trout fishery while eliminating soil erosion and field and road flooding. In 2016, CSD began a Trout in the Classroom (TIC) project that entailed raising brown trout in classroom aquariums. Students were able to learn how to raise trout and assessed habitat conditions at Stony Brook. Currently, Trout in the Classroom has stocked approximately 2300 fingerling brown and brook trout. Through the process of electro-shocking, the WDNR has documented survival of tagged trout planted by the students. Our vision would be to continue building the program and demonstrating the value of investments in the restoration of Stony Brook. Students will now experience an “in the field laboratory” where they will experience improvements that can and will be made to enhance sections of Stony Brook and the Stony Brook watershed.
3. Easements from Local Landowners along the River Corridor
Fox Valley Trout Unlimited obtained six conservation easements along 1.25 miles of stream that allow WDNR and partners to perform habitat improvement projects; all 100% donated by landowners. Our vision is to generate additional easements along the stream corridor that would allow implementation of restoration strategies from the headwaters to where the stream flows into the Manitowoc River.
All these efforts will lead to a cleaner and cooler water from the headwaters of Stony Brook to the south branch of the Manitowoc River and eventually to Lake Michigan.
RESTORATION PROJECTS
Our stakeholders have worked together to complete restoration projects to Stony Brook and the lands that surround. Some changes are smaller while others are more monumental like the completion of the culvert bridge over the brook.
LAND OWNER CHAMPIONS
Fox Valley Trout Unlimited obtained six conservation easements along 1.25 miles of stream that allow WDNR and partners to perform habitat improvement projects; all 100% donated by landowners. Our vision is to generate additional easements along the stream corridor that would allow implementation of restoration strategies from the headwaters to where the stream flows into the South Branch of the Manitowoc River.
Land Owner Champions Listing
Landowners; Ask and You Shall Receive
EASEMENT
LISTING
Friends of Stony Brook currently have easements from six landowners to provide access for habitat restoration. These landowners are truly Champions of Stony Brook!
If you live on Stony Brook and are interested in adding to the preservation and care, consider providing an easement to the brook on your property. View the template at the link below.
teaching in schools with
Trout in the Classroom
Trout in the Classroom is a nationally recognized program and curriculum that is designed to make connections between classroom learning with the natural environment and to promote stewardship for the steam and surrounding landscape. Trout in the Classroom (TIC) is an environmental education program sponsored and supported by Trout Unlimited in which students in grades K-12.
In 2015, The School District of Chilton was awarded a grant from the Chilton Community Foundation to begin a Trout in the Classroom Program. The funds from the grant allowed for the purchase of two Trout in the Classroom systems for the Chilton Middle and High Schools. In February of 2016, each school received 100 domestic brown trout fry from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Wild Rose Fish Hatchery. Students fed the fish, performed water tests, and cleaned the fish tanks regularly until the first release in Stony Brook occurred in April of 2016. Similar efforts continued in 2017 with no evidence of survival.
In 2018, the timber coulee strain of brown trout was used for the TIC program. At this time, Chilton High School added a second Trout in the Classroom system in order to increase the stocking potential in Stony Brook. Additionally, some trout were kept in the classroom over the summer for educational purposes for fall high school students who did not get to participate in the spring TIC program. The WDNR began using PIT tags on these trout when released in the fall in order to help determine the survival rate and migration patterns of the trout. PIT tag data and electroshocking surveys determined the new strain of trout were surviving. In 2019, a wild strain of brook trout was added to the TIC program, and the middle school raised 250 brown trout while the high school raised 250 brown trout and 300 brook trout. PIT tagging on fall released trout continued with both brown and brook trout. Due to the success of the survival rate of the brown trout, in 2020, the schools raised 500 brook trout only. In March 2020, schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and virtual learning continued for the remainder of the school year. The teachers continued to raise the trout and provided the students with updates on their progress. These fish were released in Stony Brook and a video of the event was shared with the students.
The COVID-19 Pandemic prevented the TIC program from taking place in Wisconsin schools during the 2020-2021 school year, even though Chilton Public Schools were in session with simultaneous in-person and virtual learning. This did provide an opportunity to determine if there would be natural reproduction in Stony Brook since fingerlings wouldn’t be stocked in the stream. The Friends of Stony Brook group was created during the 2020-2021 school year, and a habitat restoration project took place at the release site on Stony Brook. An electroshocking survey determined that there was natural reproduction taking place in Stony Brook, which hasn’t happened in decades or ever.
Participating Schools
2021 FIELD DAY
PROGRAM RESOURCES
PROGRAM CONTACT
Danielle Santry
Water Resource Specialist
Land and Water Conservation
206 Court St | Chilton, WI 53014
Phone (920) 849-1442
Toll-Free (833) 620-2730
Fax (920) 849-1481
www.calumetcounty.org
ELEVATE OUR EFFORTS
Your Gift
to Stony Brook
Our work is made possible in part by the generosity of those who support us. Elevate our efforts through a donation of time, money, or sharing what we do. When you give to Friends of Stony Brook, your donation goes directly towards improvements and the work that we do to advocate and educate the public. Your gift can be made through a one time gift using the button below. If you would like to set up to continuously give each year we have that option available so you don't have to remember us each giving year. All financial donations go through Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) and then provided to our organization so they may be tax deductible. If you have any questions regarding online giving please contact us or email give@lnrp.org. We thank you for supporting us!
ADDITIONAL WAYS TO GIVE
VOLUNTEER
We are always seeking volunteers to help bring some of our plans to life. If you would like to help contact us.
OTHER WAYS TO GIVE
Legacy gifts, bequests, gifts of stock, estate planning, in-kind donations, in-kind services, and volunteering
GIVE BY MAIL
If you don’t feel comfortable giving online you may download this form and mail it instead.
“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.”
— Aldo Leopold
