Imagine a truly world-class fishing river with miles of undulating riverbed featuring eddies, deep holes, literally tons of game fish per mile and wildlife along easily accessible banks. Now imagine that a few miles downstream, this fabulous river turns into a straight u-shaped
pipeline with bank erosion, sedimentation filling in and smoothing out fish habitat, poor habitat for wildlife and birds along the banks, and a current so relentless there’s no place for fish to get out of the current, so they just pass through that section.
This is the reality of the North Platte River as it flows north from Gray Reef Dam into Casper. A diverse group of Casper people hope to change that.
“We have massive bank wasting and erosion. We have places where the river really can’t sustain much aquatic life. And were going to fix those,” said Jolene Martinez, a special projects manager for the City of Casper responsible for the Platte River Revival project. Martinez said the river revival will not only benefit water quality and fish habitat but riparian and wildlife habitat in general in the river corridor. “It’s good for the entire river habitat and it’s just plain good for people not losing chunks of their property into the river,” she said.
How river was damaged
River habitat through Casper was likely damaged over a period of time by individuals who dug into the riverbank for one reason or another, sometimes changing the course of the river. Construction along the river and adding features like old cars, tires, chunks of concrete and general trash to create fish habitat had a big impact on the river’s flow over the course of time. Bridge construction is another probable factor in how the river became clogged with sediment.
An idea
The river revival started as an idea in 2006 when the Two Fly Foundation came to the Casper City Council proposing a partnership to restore the river through Casper. Restoration began with a volunteer day in September 2007. More than 300 people showed up to help remove junk from the river.
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