Project Description
Lancaster Brook is a small stream in the northern portion of the Oneida Reservation that had become degraded due to residential development and agricultural activities in the watershed. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) classified Lancaster Brook as a Class 2 trout stream, meaning that the stream supports some natural reproduction, but not enough to make use of available food and space. The brook lacked natural woody materials (i.e., log jams and root wads) that provide feeding habitat and refugia for brook trout and other coldwater fish, and the substrate had become covered in fine sediments.
To compensate for injuries to natural resources from the release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Lower Fox River, the Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council helped support the acquisition and protection of the 17.2-acre Farah property within the Oneida Reservation. The property contains a 1,950-foot reach of Lancaster Brook and approximately seven acres of forested wetlands. Once the property was acquired, the Trustees provided funding for a restoration project to improve the aquatic habitat for brook trout and other aquatic organisms by adding engineered log jams to the stream.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service