Photo By Scott Sturkol | John Noble, fisheries biologist with the Directorate of Public Works Environmental...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy Fisheries Biologist John Noble with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch officially retired from government civil service on June 29 with 32 years on the job.
When he started at Fort McCoy in 1991, Noble took a fledgling fisheries program and over three decades turned it into something that has made Fort McCoy one of best-managed fishery programs in the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense.
Through the support of others, Noble said Fort McCoy’s natural resources program is one of the best anywhere and it’s because of the people he has worked with in the past and now. During his time, Noble has helped the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch earn awards from Installation Management Command, Secretary of the Army, the Department of Defense, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and more.
“I started here on Nov. 4, 1991,” Noble said. “Before here I worked for three years at the National Fisheries Research Center in Gainesville, Fla. … Back in the day, we were a small operation. We had rotary phones — anybody remember rotary phones? And we had one computer. Things have changed quite a bit since then.”
Noble said before he started, there was some fisheries work done at Fort McCoy in the 1970s and 1980s by biologists before him. but it began to pick up more once he was on the job.
“So, given my background, it was pretty much up to me to decide where to go (with the program),” Noble said.
Early on, Noble with support from fellow NRB teammates and others, helped establish a fish shocking program that continues to this day that helps determine the numbers and types of fish in 17 sites at Fort McCoy.
“It took a lot of time and effort to acquire shocking equipment,” Noble said. “Money was a commodity that wasn’t readily available, so it took a relatively long period of time to get what we needed.”
Noble said piece by piece they worked to build a capability to do fisheries work with shocking equipment that was efficient enough to do the work they needed to do. The eventually got a barge, then a backpack shocker, then an electric fishing boat.
“Then we got into a more regimented process,” Noble said. “That's how it started. We still shock the same 17 sites that we did since 1995. We adapted to a protocol that was created by John Lyons and Lee Wang and Paul Cannell, and we use that protocol to this day. So we standardized from the start and in that way we have had great trend analysis and great results as far as what our fisheries has done through decades of watershed management.”
Through his decades of work, Noble has also been known for building great relationships with people and agencies to get things accomplishments. One of those relationships Noble has continued to nurture has been with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).
Over the last three decades at Fort McCoy, the WDNR has supported numerous stream restoration efforts on the installation largely because Noble worked with them to make it happen.
“I talk about brush bundling…we still brush bundle today,” Noble said. “The (WDNR) crews are doing some great work with opening up the canopy and getting sunlight to vegetation. So, you get the stream banks vegetated and you get some growth of vernacular aquatic plants.”
Noble mentioned people like Mike Leonard and Gary Larson as well who helped complete stream restoration work over the years who really made a difference.
“It's proven to really benefit the whole watershed,” Noble said.
Noble said Fort McCoy is blessed to have lakes as well. With West Sandy Lake, Sandy Lake, and Big Sandy Lake, for example — all are lakes that were formed in the 1960s when the Department of Transportation needed borrow pits for interstate construction. They ended up becoming recreational areas for Fort McCoy.
Fort McCoy also has other lakes and ponds on post as well with Sparta Pond, Swamp Pond, Suukjak Sep Lake, Lost Lake, and North Flowage. All these areas Noble has helped manage to make sure fishing and recreational opportunities remained available at all those locations. And he credits it to teamwork.
“This is big interest for us in recreational fishing and also provides nice picnic areas too,” Noble said. “It’s hard to comprehend where we came from, and it takes many people. The success of this program has been through a great team.
“Also, when you look at the number of people who have supported our natural resources program, and truly helped us, it was incredible,” Noble said. “Because the financial aspect back then … we had such a small budget, and it was truly tough. Working with our partners was essential. We benefited from … stamp money a few years and other partners contributions. Even Fish and Wildlife Service came up with $5,000 for recreational money that we put in the creek. I mean it goes on and on and on. And that’s not to mention endless volunteer hours from Trout Unlimited, the Fort McCoy Rod and Gun Club, and anglers and hunters from the community who would come out and support us here. It’s rather remarkable.”
And, thanks to all of Noble’s work, Fort McCoy has some of the best trout streams in Wisconsin, statistics show. Annual stream surveys at Fort McCoy have been consistently showing that the installation has had some of the best naturally reproducing trout habitat in the state and that has been because of the work over the last three decades.
“We’re in the eastern, northeastern portion of Monroe County … and a lot of the headwater streams originate here,” Noble said. “So, we're starting with good water quality and forested watersheds. And there's not a lot of development. And these streams are supported by groundwater springs. There are sandy streams, but the brook trout and brown trout can find a niche and naturally reproduce. Tarr Creek is the pulse of the brown fishery. And further upstream in Tarr Creek, in the Tarr Valley, it's all brook trout. There's overlap in places, too, and then we will get a natural hybrid and a tiger trout, and I think anglers might find it interesting to catch a tiger trout.
Noble again said everything he accomplished really was as part of a greater team within the NRB. He said he really enjoyed everyone he worked with there.
“You know, we don't look like we fit the bill, but we knew how to support each other,” Noble said of his team at NRB over the years. “We understood who each person was. The strengths and weaknesses. It was about give and take. I mean, you look at Dave Beckmann. Technically strong in researching manuscripts and know the science side of wildlife management. … And Tim Wilder, I mean, you can't find a better person on the planet. … And Jim Kirkman, same way, I mean passionate to this day. … And Charles (Mentzel) out in the field working hard, and Mark McCarty who was a great leader. … Kim (Mello) who was passionate and dedicated. … We worked hard for every nickel.”
Noble said there were many others he worked with who made a huge difference in the fisheries program and the natural resources program during his career at Fort McCoy, including many people with the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Lands who work in partnership with the NRB.
“We did some fantastic work,” Noble said. “And again, it’s a village of people doing great things.”
At his retirement ceremony June 29, Noble received a Civilian Service Commendation Medal presented to him from Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger. As part of the justification for the award, following are just a few of the career accomplishments of Noble featured in the award package.
— “Since November 2000, Noble has been instrumental in the stocking of over 375,000 rainbow trout within Fort McCoy’s lakes and impoundments. The vast majority of these fish were purchased through an Interagency Agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. At a minimum, a 40 percent cost savings was achieved by obtaining trout through this agreement versus purchasing from a private hatchery.”
— “As Fort McCoy’s fishery biologist, Noble implemented annual biomonitoring assessments to evaluate fish abundance and habitat quality. In addition, he established a water quality monitoring program to, in part, determine levels of turbidity and suspended solids in Fort McCoy waters. In combination, these annual monitoring programs provided a snapshot in time of the current health of the aquatic ecosystem, identified trends overtime, denoted areas in need of habitat improvement, and provided a metrics to determine if habitat management work being accomplished was improving the resource. This sound watershed management approach greatly improved the health of the installation’s aquatic ecosystem and resulted in natural fish recruitment within Fort McCoy’s streams reaching an all-time high in 2022 with an average of 59 pounds of trout/acre, 65 percent higher than the previous 23-year average.”
— “In 2004, Noble was approached by representatives of ESPN’s Outdoor Games to see if they could hold a trout fishing competition on Fort McCoy’s streams. They had heard rumors that Fort McCoy’s streams had abundant trout in them. Noble was able to provide them with the survey data that documented the average number of trout per mile within Silver Creek. The end result was that eight professional fishermen fished Silver Creek and ESPN filmed the competition that aired nationwide.”
— “Noble has been the Natural Resources Branch’s point man for the Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit agreement. This agreement, administered through the US Army Corps of Engineers, is the main mechanisms the Natural Resources Branch has used over the past 16 years to obtain support to complete natural resources field work. Noble worked tirelessly with other Natural Resource Branch program managers to ensure statements of work included all necessary tasks and deliverables, with our budget analyst to ensure necessary funding was available and obligated by target dates, and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure administrative requirements were met and agreements were established by required deadlines.”
— “Noble was constantly looking for ways to improve the recreational experience anglers had while fishing on the installation. Many of the fishing piers at Fort McCoy lakes were in poor shape and did not allow easy access by individuals with disabilities. In 2014, upon identifying the need, Noble submitted the necessary work orders to have six new handicap accessible piers installed to improve angling and watchable wildlife opportunities for Soldiers, families and general public with disabilities.”
— “A dam was placed on Silver Creek in 1956 creating an impoundment. By the early 1980s sediment had collected behind the dam creating a shallow water wetland rather than an open body of water. The dam itself began to fail early in the 2000s. Under an Inter-Agency Agreement between the Army, US Fish and Wildlife Service and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Noble led the effort to remove the failing West Silver Wetland dam and, in the process, completed over a third of a mile of stream habitat enhancement on Silver Creek. The Inter-Agency Agreement also facilitated Fort McCoy receiving a $40,000 grant for the dam removal and saved Fort McCoy an estimated $350,000 in part by utilizing Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources equipment operators to complete the work rather than private contractors.”
— “Using an Army, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Inter-Agency Agreement, Noble established an eight-way partnership involving the Habelman Cranberry Marsh, Colorado State University, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort McCoy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, volunteers, and local school groups to complete fish barrier removal and stream habitat improvement on the installation. The collaborative effort focused on Stillwell Creek, which is listed as a 303(d) impaired water due to flow problems in its highly degraded channel.
“Collectively, the partners improved nearly 2,000 feet of stream habitat in 2014. Due to the outstanding success of this project, the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp made a visit to Fort McCoy to meet with the garrison commander and tour the stream restoration project site. The work demonstrated the Army’s commitment to the conservation of Wisconsin's water resources and was recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources within presentations at the Driftless Area Symposium and American Fisheries Society.”
— “In 2015, a contract firm removed the Alderwood Lake dam that was located on the La Crosse River. The project included the reroute of a road that was within an active range’s surface danger zone and the establishment of a low water crossing. The project also involved the mitigation of 6.5 acres of wetlands. Due to a design flaw in the contract itself, the contracting firm was not able to complete the work necessary to allow the stream channel to revert to its original depth. In 2017, through an Inter-Agency Agreement, Noble spearheaded the coordination needed to have Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources equipment operators removed hardpan and stream substrates that allowed the stream to head cut and revert to its natural depth, directly benefiting the low-water crossing. As a result of the stream channel improvements, permit standards were met and habitat for brook trout was greatly enhanced. The project ultimately benefitted the military mission by eliminating surface danger zone concerns, improving traffic movement, adding a low water crossing and eliminating weight limitations on an aging dam structure over the La Crosse River. This collaborative effort helped Fort McCoy achieve wetland mitigation permit compliance in the third year of a five-year permit term.”
Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
(The Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch contributed to this article.)
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2023 15:49 |
| Story ID: | 448844 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 1,433 |
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