A streambank-stabilization project on the Big Sable River has stopped a serious threat to a popular Michigan fishing lake’s water quality, thanks to support from Wildlife Forever. The Big Sable River includes 24 miles of mainstream and a number of tributaries that empty into Hamlin Lake, a 4,990-acre prime fishing and recreation area north of Ludington. A stream-bank erosion inventory on the Big Sable identified 57 eroding streambanks. If the sediment had been allowed to continue to enter the Big Sable River, it would choke out a healthy river ecosystem, decrease shade and cover for trout, and burying spawning and feeding gravel beds. Also, phosphorous input to Hamlin Lake would increase, further harming the lake’s water quality and fishery values. The Big Sable restoration project used rock riprap at the base, and log terraces, grasses, shrubs, and trees on the upper slopes.