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Moorhead, Minn.

Photos: Dam modifications restore wildlife habitat

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Lowhead dam modification
Work was ongoing Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, to convert a lowhead dam on the Red River to a spillway dam not far from the Oxbow, N.D., Country Club. Retrofitting dangerous dams on the Red River will improve fish habitat and boater safety. River ecologists Neil Haugerud, left, and Luther Aadland, both of whom work for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources monitor boulder placement.
MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller

The state Department of Natural Resources is modifying dams on the Red River northwest Minnesota to reconnect hundreds of miles of fish habitat for the first time in decades. Many of these dams were built to hold pools for city drinking water supplies during the extended drought of the 1930s.

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Excavators maneuver boulders
Two excavators maneuver boulders into place on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, as part of a project to retrofit dangerous dams on the Red River near the Oxbow, N.D., Country Club. This project and others like it will improve fish habitat and boater safety, according to officials with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller
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Lowhead dam modification
Work was ongoing Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, to convert a lowhead dam on the Red River to a spillway dam not far from the Oxbow, N.D., Country Club. Retrofitting dangerous dams on the Red River will improve fish habitat and boater safety. River ecologists Neil Haugerud, left, and Luther Aadland, both of whom work for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources monitor boulder placement.
MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller
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Boot prints
The boot prints of river ecologists create a path in the snow on the Red River near Oxbow, N.D. Nearby workers are using excavators to place boulders in the river to build a spillway dam.
MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller