Springhill Creek, a Bighead River tributary, was one of the 12 priority sites identified for improvement in a 1999 report on the Bighead River red by Henderson and Paddon Consulting Engineers of Owen Sound.

The Springhill Creek project, sponsored by the Scenic City Order of Good Cheer in cooperation with property owner Ralph Sutherland includes 2,600 feet of fencing erected in 2000 to exclude cattle from 1,300 feet of stream bed. This April there were 900 cedar trees planted within the fenced stream corridor to lessen stream temperature increases caused by sun exposure. Unrestricted cattle access results in impaired water quality, the loss of stream side vegetation, excessive erosion of the banks, heavy sediment loading on spawning beds and the loss of the insect life that fish fry need to survive. In the photograph, the minimum offset between the fence and the stream was 15 feet but with most areas set back 20-25 feet. Ideally a wider buffer of at least 30 feet per side is needed to minimize stream warming under severe summer conditions. Yet to be done is the addition of big stones to provide cover for fish and prevent erosion. 

This project was 100 per cent funded by the MNR's Fish and Wildlife Protection and Enhancement Fund.