Black Hills Flyfishers
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Home > Newsletters > November 2006 > Important Sheridan Lake Meeting
| Important Sheridan Lake Meeting |
As many of you know, there is an opportunity to turn Spring Creek into a tail-water fishery and perhaps
the finest stream fishery in the Black Hills. This opportunity has come about because of the installation
of a new valve that allows a measured, coldwater release from the dam.
For well over a decade, the BHFF has pressed the Forest Service to utilize a small portion of the water
in the lake to maintain the downstream fishery. The current proposal is to allow 2 feet of lake elevation
for this purpose. To put this into perspective, if the lake were in fact drawn down two feet (which
would be a very rare event – probably once every ten years), the surface acreage of Sheridan Lake
would be reduced from 380 acres to 365 acres.
The BHFF, Game, Fish, & Parks, and the Forest Service are collectively willing to spend several
hundred thousand dollars in enhancements to the lake (additional sand at beaches, floating docks,
etc.) to assure that a 2-foot draw- down does not adversely affect lake users in a meaningful way.
Despite all of this, these are some lake users (primarily lake anglers) that believe shrinking the surface
acreage of the lake by 15 acres is too great of a sacrifice for them, even if it means preserving the
fishery in Spring Creek.
There will be a public meeting sponsored by the Forest Service to gather public input on this issue.
If it is your desire to have both a quality lake and a downstream fishery, I strongly recommend that you
attend. Quite frankly, the opposition is small, but very vocal. To see this through, the Forest Service
will need to see significant public support.
Please attend this meeting. Please voice your support for Spring Creek. Details of the meeting follow:
When: Tuesday, November 28, at 7 pm
Where: Johnson Siding Community Hall on West Highway 44
What: Public meeting on Spring Creek & Sheridan Lake
Why: ‘Cause if you don’t show up, Spring Creek may never be a quality fishery.
the finest stream fishery in the Black Hills. This opportunity has come about because of the installation
of a new valve that allows a measured, coldwater release from the dam.
For well over a decade, the BHFF has pressed the Forest Service to utilize a small portion of the water
in the lake to maintain the downstream fishery. The current proposal is to allow 2 feet of lake elevation
for this purpose. To put this into perspective, if the lake were in fact drawn down two feet (which
would be a very rare event – probably once every ten years), the surface acreage of Sheridan Lake
would be reduced from 380 acres to 365 acres.
The BHFF, Game, Fish, & Parks, and the Forest Service are collectively willing to spend several
hundred thousand dollars in enhancements to the lake (additional sand at beaches, floating docks,
etc.) to assure that a 2-foot draw- down does not adversely affect lake users in a meaningful way.
Despite all of this, these are some lake users (primarily lake anglers) that believe shrinking the surface
acreage of the lake by 15 acres is too great of a sacrifice for them, even if it means preserving the
fishery in Spring Creek.
There will be a public meeting sponsored by the Forest Service to gather public input on this issue.
If it is your desire to have both a quality lake and a downstream fishery, I strongly recommend that you
attend. Quite frankly, the opposition is small, but very vocal. To see this through, the Forest Service
will need to see significant public support.
Please attend this meeting. Please voice your support for Spring Creek. Details of the meeting follow:
When: Tuesday, November 28, at 7 pm
Where: Johnson Siding Community Hall on West Highway 44
What: Public meeting on Spring Creek & Sheridan Lake
Why: ‘Cause if you don’t show up, Spring Creek may never be a quality fishery.