Department of Natural Resources fisheries officials want sportsmen who recreate along the Kalamazoo River at Calkins Bridge Dam to know they have a rare opportunity to have a say in how the dam operates.

Also known as Allegan Dam, the Consumers Power hydroelectric facility that impounds Allegan Lake is up for re-licensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). New FERC licenses are issued for a period of 30 to 50 years.

"Now's the time for people to express their opinions on what they'd like to see at the project," said Chris Freiburger, a DNR fisheries biologist who works on FERC issues. "They can talk about anything -- from how the dam is operated to any improvements they might like to see in recreational facilities."

For its part, the DNR is asking FERC to require Consumers Energy to monitor invasive vegetation in the lake, which borders the Allegan Lake State Game Area, and to provide a monitoring device at the dam to measure how discharges are affecting the river downstream. In addition, the DNR wants Consumers Energy to make some sort of provision for future fish passage as the dam is the first barrier upstream from Lake Michigan.

"But other people may have some ideas that haven't even occurred to us," Freiburger said. ""So we want their input."

Interested parties can forward comments to Chris Freiburger, Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division, P.O. Box 30446, Lansing, MI 48909.