Upper St. Joseph River Project Office

Upper St. Joseph News

Spring 2009 Newsletter - Updates on our work on two-stage ditches, how to incorporate good land management on your property and more.

Contact Us

Upper St. Joseph River Project Office
Peachtree Plaza, Suite H
1220 North 200 West
Angola, IN 46703
phone & fax: (260) 665-9141

One of the rarest animals on the planet — the white cat’s paw pearly mussel — is found in Fish Creek, located in the upper St. Joseph River’s watershed, and nowhere else. Although many of Indiana's waterways have been drained, channeled and polluted over the years, gems such as Fish Creek largely escaped the damage that development and incompatible agricultural practices wrought on other waterways.

Fed by sparkling springs, the watershed supports some of the densest mussel beds and diverse aquatic life remaining in the Great Lakes basin. Residents Fort Wayne also depend on this river as the source of their drinking water.

Location & Size

The river’s watershed begins in central-lower Michigan and northwestern Ohio then continues downstream about 50 miles until it ends at the confluence of Fish Creek and the St. Joseph River - about 30 miles northeast of Fort Wayne.

The watershed is more than 350,000 acres. Currently the Conservancy is focusing on two areas: Fish Creek and the East Fork of the St. Joseph River's West Branch, which together comprise 105,000 acres.

Species of Concern

The federally endangered white cat’s paw pearly mussel has become a symbol of efforts to conserve the St. Joseph River watershed. Named for the shape of its shell, which resembles a cat’s paw-print, this mussel once lived throughout the river system and possibly into the upper Wabash River.

Two other area mussels — the northern rifleshell mussel and club shell mussel — also are listed federally as endangered as is the copperbelly water snake. Recently, researchers uncovered a community of mussels in the East Fork of the West Branch of the St. Joseph River that rivals Fish Creek in its diversity.

What The Nature Conservancy has Done and is Doing

The Nature Conservancy’s work in this watershed first began in 1992 with the opening of the Angola office near Fish Creek. Over time, the Conservancy’s work expanded to include more of the region and local community.

Increased silt is impacting the quality of water here, as are man-made changes to how water flows into this area. Planting trees, encouraging the use of no-till practices and fencing creeks to keep out livestock are a few of the tactics being used to keep this river clean so that mussels and fish can thrive. The Conservancy has used these tactics, with the cooperation of landowners, on more than 11,000 acres.

The St. Joseph staff, along with those at the Wabash Rivers Initiative - Tippecanoe Office, is currently working on a new, exciting venture with local farmers on ways to improve the function of drainage ditches while improving the environmental benefits that these watershed arteries could provide to the river systems. Miles of two-stage ditches have already been implemented in these two areas with more to come.

Rich with mussels and other aquatic life, this river is the best remaining example of a river community that once was common in the western Lake Erie basin. With growing threats from agriculture and land development, the future of this watershed remains uncertain. The Conservancy has the unique opportunity here to support these rare creatures by saving the land and water on which these plants and animals depend.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © The Nature Conservancy (aerial view of Fish Creek/Upper St. Joseph.