PROJECT SUMMARY
As part of their Reconnecting Canada initiative, Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) identified an opportunity to address an obstruction to fish passage in the Cypress Hills Uplands region of Southwestern Saskatchewan. The Frenchman river reconnection project aimed to solve the issue of lost connectivity that had been created by scour at the outlets of several hanging culverts within two tributaries of the Frenchman River: Caton Creek and Davis Creek. The purpose of the project was to increase available habitat for threatened Plains Sucker (formerly known as Mountain Sucker) populations, improving their ability to adapt to the growing pressures of climate change and habitat loss. Changes to water flow and fish passage are described as threats to Plains Sucker populations as is genetic fragmentation created by improperly designed or failed infrastructure. These fish play an important role in the ecosystems that they inhabit.