Fletcher Pond (Fletcher Floodwater) is a man-made body of water located in Northeast lower Michigan. The pond covers over 9,000 acres (36 km2) of land that was previously cedar forest. A dam was built in the 1931 that blocked the flow of the Thunder Bay River to provide reserve water for the Alpena Power Company hydroelectric power plant located in the city of Alpena, Michigan.
Fletcher Pond has over 13 islands which provide excellent habitat for the various species of marine birds which use the seclusion as a safe place to make nests and rear young. In addition, several stands have been erected in order to provide an acceptable nesting area for Osprey. This has been very conducive to Osprey frequenting the area as the pond has been said to sustain a very large Osprey population.
It is named for George Fletcher, one of the founders of Alpena.
Fletcher pond is a popular destination for fishermen, bird watchers, nature lovers and hunters.
Famous quotes containing the words fletcher and/or pond:
“Come, all sad and solemn shows,
That are quick-eyed Pleasure’s foes!
We convent nought else but woes,
We convent nought else but woes.”
—John Fletcher (1579–1625)
“This pond never breaks up so soon as the others in this neighborhood, on account both of its greater depth and its having no stream passing through it to melt or wear away the ice.... It indicates better than any water hereabouts the absolute progress of the season, being least affected by transient changes of temperature. A severe cold of a few days’ duration in March may very much retard the opening of the former ponds, while the temperature of Walden increases almost uninterruptedly.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)