Tippy Dam Hosts 20,000 Bats Immune to White Nose Syndrome

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bats hibernating inside Tippy Dam ( photo by David Kenyon/Michigan Department of Natural Resources))

from a feature byInterlochen Public Radio

In the 1990s, Allenn Kurta, biology professor at Eastern Michigan University, heard that there were hundreds of bats living in Tippy Dam on the Manistee River (near Brethren, MI). He went to check it out, expecting to find about 50 bats. Instead he found over 20,000 healthy little brown bats.

More importantly, these bats have not contracted the fungal white-nose syndrome which has devastated bat populations in the Upper Peninsula. The fungus is not a problem for bats in warmer weather. However, when they hibernate in cold weather, the fungus awakens the bats, and they fly out looking for insects to eat. When they find no food, they die.

Kurta found that the fungus was present at Tippy Dam, but the bats were not being affected. Tippy Dam is now home to the largest population of hibernating bats in Michigan.

Kurta said, "There is something going in in that dam that is allowing them to survive the infection," Kurta said. "So it's an important natural resource, and it does a world of good for farmers and everybody else by eating insect pests and things that transmit diseases."

However, the sale of Tippy Dam and several others on the Manistee River is pending. Consumers Energy will divest itself of the outdated and expensive-to-maintain structures. One possible purchaser, Consumers Hydro, has stated that it will continue to operate the dams "in accordance with the same species protections Consumers Energy has undertaken. We further understand the importance of bat research underway at the Tippy Dam, and we look forward to learning more about how we can support these efforts."

Romoval of the dams is still not out of the question. Local residents prefer keeping the dams due to the recreational opportunities found at the dam ponds.

And, as yet, no one has unlocked the secret of why the Tippy Dam bats are immune to the fungus. Learning this key piece of information could save the little brown bat.

See Interlochen Public Radio


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Dam Sirens to Be Tested Friday

Friday, December 14, at 9 am the siren at Tippy Dam (Wellston area) near High Bridge Road will be sounded. This is a regular test of the emergency public warning siren and speaker system maintained by Consumers Energy. The siren test at Hodenpyl dam (Mesick area) will be tested at 11 am on the same date.

The tests will include a voice message, sounding of the siren, and a second voice message. No action needs to be taken by the public. The system is regularly tested every August and December.

Such tests are required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If there were an imminent threat of dam failure the sirens would be sounded, and anyone on or near the river should move immediately to high gound.

Consumers Energy operates hydroelectric generating plants at both Tippy and Hodenpyl Dams.

from the Ludington Daily News, December 12, 2007
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Cooler Water Below Dams Will Improve Fishing

If all goes as planned, the water flowing out of several Michigan hydroelectric dams will be cooler and better suited for fish habitat, according to plans released Wedneday by Consumers Energy.

Consumers studied how much cold water pooled up at the bottom of Hodenpyl Pond, the theory being that the cool water, although lacking in oxygen, could be used to alleviate some of the warming experienced on the Manistee River during the height of summer. Releasing it in the river could help mitigate the warming effect the ams have on the rivers.

The DNR and steelhead and trout anglers are hoping the upwelling cools the Hodenpyl outflow enough that the Tippy [Dam] outflow will also be affected.

Past University of Michigan studies have shown that although the stretch below Tippy produces many young steelhead, many of them die before getting a chance to go to Lake Michigan. Scientists have theorized warm water is a factor in that mortality.

Marty Holtgran, a fisheries biologist with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, was hopeful the temperature improvements would help stave off fish diseases and return some natural order to the lower Manistee watershed.

"Certainly an improvement in water temperature - something that mimics natural conditions - would be a benefit to the fish community, including trout, salmon and sturgeon," Holtgren said. "It's a step in the right direction."

This is part of an extensive article in the June 9, 2007 edition of the Ludington Daily News- see FAIR USE notice.
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