Northport Streaming is a community group advocating for dam removal, and working to restore the creek to the free-flowing coldwater trout stream it once was and is meant to be.
Northport Creek is a state-designated Type 1 trout stream — the state's highest rating for coldwater fisheries. It's supposed to support naturally reproducing trout but cannot, due to the unnatural condition caused by the dam.
For more than 170 years, a dam has obstructed Northport Creek from being a healthy, free-flowing trout stream. The impoundment traps sediment behind the wall — pond muck that should be moving downstream — and blocks the cold, clear flow that trout need. The fix is well understood: remove the obsolete dam, let the impoundment drain, restore the natural channel. Federal and state funding exists for exactly this kind of project.
Built during the logging era, for a purpose this village no longer needs. It's aging, it's deteriorated, and it's a liability — every storm event brings a new inspection and another round of questions about its condition.
Originally built circa 1855 by a timber baron who bought up large tracts of U.S. Government land to cut and make lumber. There was no regulatory authority that would require removal of the dam. The timber barons lined their pockets and left town, leaving behind what was at the time the single greatest man-made environmental disaster. When the local community built the 1935 dam and expanded the impoundment, they also carried out the project without a regulatory authority. There was no DEQ/EGLE regulation in 1935.
In 2023, the village paid GEI Consultants $25,000 to study the dam. The study laid out two paths: replace it, or remove it and restore the creek. Both options were costed. The removal option exists, and it's what the creek is waiting for.
Today, Michigan's Environmental Protection Act prohibits obstructing a trout stream in ways that block fish passage. That law didn't exist when the dam was built. Rebuilding the dam flies in the face of it.
(NO new taxes for dam removal and restoration)
To be clear, the Northport government is not promoting replacing or removing the dam. Unwilling to make the decision as a governing body, they are leaving the choice to the voter.
Do you wish to pay 1.24 mills of tax dollars from your pocket for 20 years — $2 million — to rebuild an obsolete dam? Or NO, I prefer the Northport government apply for available funding to remove the dam and restore the creek to its natural, free-flowing design?
A prevailing no vote — the millage fails — will cause the Northport government to fulfill their obligation under a written resolution to immediately apply for funding to remove the dam and restore the stream channel.
Local partners — the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, the Conservation Resource Alliance, and the Grand Traverse Band Natural Resources — are all standing by and in agreement to assist Northport Village in applying for every funding opportunity available.
| What a no vote does | It doesn't leave a broken dam in the river. It triggers the funded removal path the manager already stated. |
|---|---|
| The study | Cost taxpayers $25,000. It documents both options. The resolution cites only one. |
| The meetings | Four Council meetings between now and the election will cover the dam's condition, engineering, replacement vs. removal, and costs. Go and ask. |
The village can't advocate for or against the millage — but we can. Information is the whole game this fall. Come to a meeting, ask the question that's missing, and talk to your neighbors about what a no vote actually does.
Northport Streaming started as a Facebook group and it's still where the real-time discussion happens — photos of the creek, meeting notices, the history, the arguments, and the plans. Join the group on Facebook.