Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for February 1, 2008 HORSESHOE LAKE

What Happened to Horseshoe Lake?

By: Kathy Sweeney

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. - If you've ever driven down Route 3 toward Cairo, you've driven through a small town called Olive Branch. And, no doubt you've seen the signs proclaiming Horseshoe Lake "the goose capitol of the world". Not so long ago, goose hunting and bluegill fishing on Horseshoe Lake was second to none. But now, both are gone and residents living near the lake wonder why.

Faye Droge has spent most of her adult life living along Horseshoe Lake.

"In those years," Faye tells me, "I see the deterioration of fishing, goose hunting. I think it's about time we get some help from somebody." So, Faye sent me a letter, asking me to find out what she couldn't about any future plans for the lake. "I think it's about time we get some help from somebody", she says.

"Used to be, you couldn't find a better bluegill lake," says Jim Melton. He owns the only functioning business out here...and serves as president of the Horseshoe Lake Chamber of Commerce. I asked Jim how he would describe the current condition of the lake.

"Needs help," he tells me. What kind of help? "They need to do something to put the bluegill back in here by getting rid of the rough fish in the lake."

The rough fish Jim's talking about are those crazy flying carp we've shown you in past stories. They've been in Horseshoe Lake ever since the flood of '93 left its mark. Folks like Jim and Faye wonder why the state isn't doing anything to bring Horseshoe Lake back to where it once was. "I know there's money that goes to other areas" Faye tells me. "Why isn't Southern Illinois eligible to receive some of these benefits?"

"I think they would like us to break off and become part of Missouri or Kentucky, whichever one we would float over to," Jim says with laugh.

More than four years ago, we brought you several stories about a state and federal to help Horseshoe Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources laid out a joint plan to actually drain the lake, then refill and restock it. The Horseshoe Lake Chamber hated the plan, and made that opinion clear.

"They've never done anything they told us they was going to do before, so why would we be behind them draining the lake and put crappie in one year, bluegill the next," Jim Melton says. "Why would we believe they would ever do any of that?"

To find out what happened to that plan, and what's going to happen to Horseshoe Lake, I went to St. Louis to meet with Tamara Atchley. Atchley was manager on the Horseshoe Lake project in 2003 for the Corps, and still holds that title today.

"Our project has been delayed because of a lack of funds," Atchley tells me. "Basically, we're dead in the water until we get additional funding." But, Atchley stresses, the project itself is not dead and public opposition four years ago did not take it off the table. "That's not the case, no. This is an ecosystem restoration project and the lake has been degraded over the last number of years."

So, it's money, not local concern, that put the draining of Horseshoe Lake on hold. And because the goal is to restore the lake's ecosystem, worries about fishing and tourism do not top the list. Tamara Atchley feels the funding could shake lose in the next couple of years. An IDNR spokesman tells me state money will be available when the Corps is ready to go.

"That short period of hurt will result in a much healthier lake down the road," Atchley stresses. "And it will take a little bit of time for the re-stocking, for the fish to get big and for it to really become closer to the lake it was many years ago. But, if nothing is done, that lake is dying."

I went back to share this information with both Faye Droge and Jim Melton. Faye told me she's glad something is being done, and thinks a short drainage period is better than leaving the lake to get worse. Jim, on the other hand, has a much different opinion. He feels like the state and the Corps simply don't care about the region, and would rather spend millions draining the lake, than spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to hire commercial fishermen to get the carp out of the lake.

Tamara Atchley believes the funding for the Horseshoe Lake Ecosystem Restoration Project may be available in 2009 or 2010. In the meantime, you can read more about the project at this link. I will keep tracking this project and let you know what happens next.