Traverse City, MI (September 2026)—On a summer afternoon at Marshville Dam County Park, nearly 100 people gathered at the edge of Stony Creek. There was a ribbon to cut, a platform to dedicate and a creek flowing freely for the first time in 160 years. For the rural communities that have long relied on this waterway, it was more than a restoration project. It was a statement: someone wanted to invest in this place.

This investment, and dozens more like it across northern Michigan, is the story of what the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) accomplished between 2022 and 2025 with support from the Walters Family Foundation. Over four years and across 15 counties, CRA completed:
• 31 stream restoration projects
• 26 sites brought to shovel-ready condition
• 287 miles of improved stream habitat
• 21.5 acres of improved wetland habitat

CRA's signature River Care program works at the intersection of ecology, infrastructure and community: removing deteriorating dams, replacing undersized road-stream crossings with channel-spanning timber bridges, restoring riparian habitat and permanently reconnecting fragmented river systems. The work is technical and painstaking, but the results are lasting. "We're making permanent fixes," said DJ Shook, Senior Project Manager at CRA. "We take these things out, and it's not like we're coming back in 10 or 20 years to redo it. These are forever impacts."

Nowhere is that permanence more visible than along the Jordan River, an 18,000-acre stretch of state-owned forest designated as both a Natural River and a Blue-Ribbon Trout Stream. In fall 2025, the final two undersized road crossings on the river's mainstem were replaced with channel-spanning timber bridges, fully reconnecting the river’s mainstem for the first time. It is the kind of milestone that takes decades of careful partnership to achieve, involving Tribal nations, county road commissions and state and federal agencies all working in concert.

A spirit of partnership defines CRA's approach. The Crystal River initiative — four crossings replaced along one of northern Michigan's most heavily paddled waterways, drawing some 15,000 paddlers annually — was led in close collaboration with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, combining financial resources, staff capacity, technical expertise and cultural perspective. "Without the Grand Traverse Band, that project wouldn't have happened," said Gavin MacDonald, Communications Manager at CRA. “We’re able to bring people together around a shared goal and deliver projects that have lasting impact across entire watersheds.”

And then there is Stony Creek, a cold-water gem an hour from Grand Rapids, loaded with brook, rainbow and brown trout, with strong runs of steelhead and salmon. For generations, it was coveted by anglers who found a way down the steep trails regardless of what stood in their way. Now, with the Marshville Dam removed, the corridor replanted with 2,280 native trees and shrubs and a universally accessible fishing platform installed at the water's edge, anyone can get within casting distance of one of Michigan's finest trout streams.

"I don't know many universally accessible places on a cold-water trout stream," Shook said. "You can go experience some of the best Michigan has to offer, and you don't have to hike into the wilderness to do it."

The Walters Family Foundation’s flexible support made the scope of this work possible, allowing CRA to move projects forward, fill critical gaps and maintain momentum across a sprawling 15-county region.

“We were able to advance a historically large number of restoration projects during this period, nearly doubling what we typically complete,” said Susie Knoll, Executive Director of CRA.

For Michiganders, the rivers and streams of the north aren't just ecosystems, they are part of the state’s identity. They are weekend trips, fishing traditions, the sound of water over rocks. CRA’s work ensures more people can experience them, not just today, but for generations.