Update on the Oklahoma Fish Habitat Initiative: Communication, Challenges, and Habitat Research
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) recently started a habitat initiative to improving fish habitat across the state. While the first year was a great success with over 200 Shelbyville cubes built, year two has been a challenge with a lack of funding and missed connections in communication efforts to the public regarding the initiative. Additional efforts within the initiative have focused on habitat research to evaluate habitat structure types and effectiveness. Many previous habitat projects have been limited in scope, investigated on a single body of water or single fish species. Taking advantage of newer live sonar technologies, ODWC is investigating 4 structure types compared to a control on 4 reservoirs across the state of Oklahoma to understand what habitat structures offer the best affordability, longevity, effectiveness, and fish-ability. This presentation will provide lessons learned in each of these areas and an update on current habitat efforts.