GreenBiz: Driftless trout fishing project has good year, despite drought

WESTBY — A project to enhance trout fishing in the Driftless Area had a good season, despite the summer drought and heat.

“We had a great spring,” said Jeff Hastings, project manager of the Driftless Area Restoration Effort, or DARE. “As for our restoration work, we were able to get a lot of work done, whereas in some high-water years we have been limited.

“During the July and August heat wave, we lost fishermen. But, that sort of fit the pattern you see in the Driftless area. People like to fish early on and then we get another rush in September.”

Trout fishing brings to the Driftless Area an estimated $1.1 billion — with about $647 million in direct impact to businesses and services in the area. The average in-state resident spends $209.50 per fishing outing; non-residents spent an estimated $391.88.

And, those statistics are based on a 2008 study. It’s likely the numbers have risen since then.

“In places like Vernon County, you can see it on any weekend during the season,” Hastings said. “People are here from Chicago, the Quad Cities, Twin Cities, all over. Many come for three days or more.”

The Driftless Area is a unique 24,000 square mile area encompassing southeast Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin, northeast Iowa, and northwest Illinois boasting 600 spring creeks.

DARE, spearheaded by Trout Unlimited, bills itself as “a geographically focused, locally driven, consensus based effort to protect, restore, and enhance rivers and streams for fish and other aquatic life throughout the Driftless Area.”

The effort is a broad partnership of federal, state, and local government, landowners, academic institutions, conservation organizations, user groups, and other interested parties.

See more in a new GreenBiz column