Sturgeon are culturally significant to Native Americans and they are an indicator of the river’s health. The more we learn, the more sturgeon are becoming a focal point of this project.  Sturgeon restoration is a management focus across the Great Lakes and research regarding the Grand River sturgeon population has begun by a group of local and Federal partners.
Sturgeon date back 135 million years and can live for more than 100 years, reaching up to six feet in length. It is good news that there is still a small population of state-threatened sturgeon in the Grand River. However, because of the Sixth Street Dam, these historic species are unable to reach a geologically unique and expansive (historic spawning) reef of exposed limestone bedrock found between the Sixth Street Dam and Ann Street.