White River Watershed Partnership

White River Watershed Collaborative

As a cofounder in 2021 with the Fremont Area Community Foundation and Trout Unlimited, the WRWP and folks from 49 other regional organizations have identified, surveyed, set priorities, planned, funded and implemented restoration projects and economic development initiatives. Quarterly Jacob Lemon of Trout Unlimited hosts a watershed-wide Zoom review meeting. Check our calendar for the next date.  Contact us and we will see that you receive an invitation to attend.

2022 WRW Collaborative Highlights posted by the Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited.

Economic Assessment of the White River WRWC GVSU 2023  (40 pg pdf) Study authored by Christian Glupker and Paul Isely, Ph.D., of Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University with funding from the Fremont Area Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Muskegon County and Community Foundation for Oceana County, covering the economic impact of the White River.  Methodology included three surveys on visitors’ activities, home zip codes, length of stay, spending patterns and general demographics. The WRW Collaborative project coordinator and chair of the WRWC economic subcommittee was Julie Burrell, Senior Economic Development Director, The Right Place.

WRW Collaborative Meeting December 9, 2025 (2 pg pdf) Summary of meeting hosted by WRW Collaborative chair Jacob Lemon, Monitoring and Community Science Manager, Michigan Trout Unlimited.  Topics included Hesperia Dam, T.U. stream enhancement projects and road commission culvert replacements within the watershed, and the preliminary results of the July Michigan DNR Fisheries Survey conducted downstream of the Hesperia Dam. This pdf includes links to several of the presentations given during the meeting, plus access to associated information covered. Approximately 30 individuals attended.

County Road Commisssions

To make Steelhead (Rainbow), Coho Salmon, and Chinook (King Salmon) self-sustaining, these non-native anadromous or lake-run species require access to inland tributaries so they can spawn. In 2011, with the formation of the White River Watershed Task Force, the Oceana County Road Commission, with over a dozen other partners including WRWP, began upgrading road-stream crossings (RSX) with timber bridges and bottomless culverts. In 2023 and 2024, the Oceana County Road Commission completed four additional replacements in the North Branch, bringing the total to about 20. There is now an unobstructed connection from Lake Michigan to the headwaters of this sub-watershed above Cobmoosa Lake in Elbridge Township and Knox Swamp in Ferry Township. The work goes on, recently WRWP provided support to WMSRDC’s grant proposal for seven additional RSX upgrades in Greenwood Township in the southeast corner of Oceana County. Above the two dams, Trout Unlimited is working with the Newaygo County Road Commission to expand the range of Brook Trout in the White’s upper stretches above White Cloud.