10th & 11th
Crow
Wing
Lake Association
“Neighbors helping neighbors
for the greater good of the lakes”
September 5, 2008
Fall Newsletter
Greetings to 10th & 11th Lake Assn. Members and others,
Hope to see you on September 20 for the semi-annual Fall Meeting!!
I have arranged for Frank Homer, Hubbard County Sheriff Department, to talk to us about home security and safety. He will address what homeowners can do while in residence and measures to consider when you leave home. There will also be a water patrol officer present to discuss water safety and patrol issues. They will have an abundant array of handouts for people to take info home with them.
The loons are socializing which means the young are on their own and the adults will be leaving shortly. Our association built 4 loon nests a couple years ago and in the past they have been used, however, the nest in 10th I have not seen this year and the unit in Soly's bay was used but the eggs were abandoned. We may want to consider re-conditioning and/or relocating these nests.
This year has been unique. We had snow early and then nothing until April. Ice out was 3 weeks later than it has been in the last few years AND this summer has been dry! We must be careful what we wish for but we really could use a soaking 2 day rain.
Fishing reports …… depends on whom you talk to but the reports, I hear, that fishing was not as good as in the past. The peak water temperature that I have seen was 78°, which is a bit cooler than last year’s 83°, but I may have missed a higher number. Warmer weather encourages more algae growth.
The water test results for phosphate and chlorophyll are similar to previous years testing but with more variability for the clarity measurement. We will see if these results make more sense when reviewing the entire year’s data.
Rich Willhaus
President, 10th & 11th Crow Wing Lakes Association
(Check out the web site
www.minnesotawaters.org/
for information about our lakes.)
UPDATE:
Darrin Hoverson, a NEW area DNR
officer whose job is geared solely towards Aquatic Invasive Species, cannot
make it to our Sept. 20 meeting, but is very much interested in being part
of our new 11th Crow Wing Lake Curly-Leaf Pondweed Taskforce. Yeah!!!!! I
am hoping that some of you may be interested in volunteering to be part of
this taskforce where we'll meet a couple times to get a plan of action
ironed out in Curly Leaf Pondweed Management.
WE NEED YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS! We’d like to keep you connected with the happenings on your lake. Eventually, we’d like to go “paperless” with this newsletter (to save postage, and save trees!) Please contact me at
kimbowen@eot.com
to get you on the e-mail list.
Current minutes from the last Lake Association Meetings are always posted on the local community bulletin board website:
www.akeleymn.com
CURLY LEAF PONDWEED (CLP) UPDATE
submitted by Kim Bowen, Crow Wing Crest Lodge (218) 652-3111
kimbowen@eot.com
How are the control efforts of this invasive plant going this year? Well, as I’m sure all the neighbors dealing with patches of CLP this season will tell you: it’s a struggle. What a lot of work to rake up this stuff and haul it away or simply throw on the banks to dry! Picture weeding a garden; except when you pull up a plant by the roots, the water becomes a murky mess, and it’s difficult to see what else is down there until it settles again. One does not want to pull up native plants if we can help it (i.e. wild celery, northern milfoil, coontail) – we want them to seed back in to lock out the invasives Bare spots are CLP turion seed magnets. Plus you can only pull the plants on calm, non-windy, non-rainy, days, argh! which limits us in trying to plan a day for a group to assist. *sigh* What’s t
COLA (Coalition of Lake Associations) and other area lake associations have been eager to offer support, but are needing direction on how to help us. (Note: Kudos to COLA for getting “Stop the Spread of Aquatic Species!” educational materials and boat ramp signs out to local resorts, campgrounds and public areas this year). They’ve really been making efforts to figure out how else they can tackle this issue; by applying for DNR
grants, getting billboard signs up, hosting meetings of state and local
officials to brainstorm more ideas in prevention.
Would you be interested in volunteering to be on an 11 th Crow Wing Lake Curly Leaf Pondweed Taskforce? The semi-annual Lake Association meetings cannot offer enough time for this topic as there are so many other issues for us neighbors to discuss. Perhaps a few of us can create a simple taskforce and meet a couple times to solidify a plan of action? (Maybe we can meet after the Lake Association meeting Sept. 20 for supper at a local restaurant?) It would be good to have several opinions to bounce off each other, to come up with some “outside-the-box” ideas, to figure out how to educate more neighbors and locals and to figure out how we can accept more support from COLA and other concerned lakes in the area.
How did the CLP get into the lake? Curly Leaf Pondweed has been around in Minnesota lakes for almost 100 years. In some lakes, CLP co-exists with native plants and does not cause problems. In other lakes, it becomes the dominant plant and causes significant problems (formation of dense mats of vegetation preventing swimming/boating activities, the promotion of phosphorus levels increasing algae bloom, and the limiting of native plants which clarify water and provide habitat/food)*. (*Source: Wendy Crowell, MN DNR Exotic Species Program) According to Chip Welling, MN DNR Invasive Species Biologist, it is estimated that many lakes unknowingly already have CLP present, but that the turions are either dormant or the patches so small, it is un-noticeable until it gets an opportunity to propagate.
How can you prevent CLP from spreading to your lakeshore property?
Avoid removal or agitation of existing native aquatic or lakeshore plants . Yes, you need to put in and take out your dock and watercraft each year, and you need to be able to swim and enjoy the lake because that’s what owning a lakehome is all about. However, any CLP turions floating around a lake will seek any bare or agitated sediment areas as an opportunity to grow, grow, grow. If you do not want this invasivyour area, try to limit the disturbance of native plants as much as you can, educate yourself on plant identification and vegetation growth cycles.
Limit nutrient run-off : Use only lawn fertilizer with NO phosphates and apply only in the fall. Create a buffer zone/filter strip of native plants/un-mowed lawn between the lake and your yard. Never fertilize right up to the lake edge. Collect and compost lawn clippings and fallen leaves. Do not rake them into the lake or burn them near the shore. Finally, be sure that your septic system is operating correctly and not draining into the lake. (
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG6955.html
)
Educate your guests : if you havefriends or family visiting yourlakehome bringing watercraft, make sure they know their boats, trailers, live wells, bait buckets, etc. need to be clean, clean, clean before putting into the lake so as not to contaminate it with any invasives in lakes they may have been in before.
What is an invasive species? Why is Curly Leaf Pondweed such a concern for our lakes?
An invasive species is any plant, animal or organism (i.e. microbe) non-native to an eco-system, whose introduction causes economic or environmental harm.
Because Curly Leaf Pondweed is the first aquatic plant to grow during spring (sometimes even under the ice!) it insidiously gets a head start before any native species. The plant spreads rapidly, crowding out native plants and creating mats and mats of vegetation.
We do not want this invasive aquatic plant to spread to the other lakes in our chain, or surrounding communities. AND we’d like to contain/control it on 11th Crow Wing Lake so as not to inhibit swimming, recreational boating and fishing activities.* If we cannot find enough volunteers to hand-pull, rake and/or act as “scouts” to detect areas of growth throughout this season, our lake could end up like poor Portage Lake.* A future control alternative will be professional chemical treatment. This could cost every property owner around the lake lots of dollars and a possible decrease in property value. Let’s protect our lakes. We need your HELP!
*Wanna see the damage it can do to a lake? A lake here in Hubbard County (only 3 lakes in Hubbard Co. have CLP) had mats of curly leaf pondweed so thick, you could almost walk across the lake on them! View photos at the Portage Lake Association website and to learn the cost of dealing with this issue after it got out of hand;
www.peteport.com/portage
Fish Survey Report
Doug Kingsley, Park Rapids Area Fisheries Manager, gave a FANTASTIC presentation at last fall’s Lake Association meeting. Thank you, Doug! The DNR makes attempts to survey the Crow Wing chain of lakes every 4 years.
Detailed graphs and info can be found by going to
www.dnr.state.mn.us
and clicking on “lake finder”. Spell out Eleventh Crow Wing Lake or any other lake you are curious about, to see results (including statistics on the 11th’s successful walleye stocking program, the generally low pan fish populations, but surprising figures for larger sized northern pike.)
Did You Know?
11th Crow Wing Lake is deeper per littoral foot, on average, than any other lake in Hubbard County? (Wow! That includes approximately 90 lakes!)
Large Mouth Bass:
There has been discussion at the last several Lake Association meetings about the possibility of putting a DNR restriction limit, or a “catch & release” program on bass in an effort to increase the size of caught fish. After a telephone conversation with the Area Fisheries Manager last Monday, April 14, the DNR has decided to steer their bass conservation efforts to other lakes in the county (i.e. Belle Taine) for the immediate future. This last fish survey (summer 2006) was the first time they utilized electrofishing as a survey technique on 11th Crow Wing Lake, so now that they have a starter baseline point, it will be interesting to note the bass numbers/size during the next survey (around 2010). The survey showed only moderate bass populations compared to other lakes of its class, although this has not been a change since the last survey done in 2002. (It was mentioned at the presentation that bass are a difficult species to survey.)
How do you find the fishing on 11th & 10th Crow Wing Lakes? We welcome your own personal observations at upcoming meetings. Your opinions matter, and will be passed along to the DNR to help them maintain our valuable natural resource: our lakes!
Not a member? BECOME ONE, it’s easy!
Mail $12 (annual dues -what a deal!) to Treasurer Lisa Hanson and you can VOTE at the next meeting. Plus you will know that your dues are helping to pay for this newsletter mailing, water clarity tests of your lake, and future needs of the lake (i.e. Curly Leaf Pondweed eradication). Thanks for supporting the health of your lake!
 Curly-Leaf
Pondweed
(Potamogeton
crispus)
Grows from
the shore to depths of up to 15 feet
Description: Leaves
are somewhat stiff and crinkled, approx. ½ inch wide and 2-3
inches long; leaves are arranged alternately around the
stem, and become more dense toward the end of branches;
produces winter buds.
Hints to
identify: Has small
“teeth” visible along edge of leaf, begins growing in EARLY
spring before most other pondweeds (even starting under
ice); dies back during midsummer.
The flower stalks, when present, stick up above the
water surface in June; appears reddish-brown in the water,
but is actually green when pulled out of the water and
examined closely.
Easily confused with Clasping-Leaf pondweed, which has
leaves with no “teeth” around their edges.
Provides
some cover for fish; several waterfowl feed on the seeds.
Will not
succeed in propagating itself if enough native aquatic
plants are established.
Tendency to start invading at areas of
disturbed lakeshore
(i.e. boat ramps, newly developed areas, swim areas, etc.)
Source:
Lake Weeder’s Digest,
www.lakeweeds.eventwebsitebuilder.com
Doug Kingsley, DNR Park
Rapids Area Fisheries Manager has graciously agreed to
attend our meeting so that we can utilize his expertise on
how we might best handle the Curly-Leaf Pondweed invasion!
|
The
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is
making more than $300,000 available for grant proposals for
restoring native shoreline vegetation across the state.
Grant
recipients will be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of the total
project costs. Applicants must be able to fund at least 25 percent
of the total project costs from non-state sources. Matching funds
may be cash, volunteer labor, and in-kind contributions of
materials, equipment and services.
"This is an opportunity
for homeowners, local communities and conservation organizations to
help enhance native shoreline vegetation and fish habitat in their
local lakes, streams and rivers," said John Hiebert,
DNR
shoreland habitat coordinator. Last year, 26 projects were funded
for $296,000.
Applications for grants, are available on the
Minnesota
DNR
Web site at:
www.dnr.state.mn.us or by calling the
DNR
at
(651)
296-6157
or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR
(646-6367).
Applications are due Sept. 18.
Successful applicants will be
notified in January. Funds will be made available to successful
applicants after
July 1, 2007.
The grants are funded from state lottery proceeds deposited in
the heritage enhancement account. Grants, administered through the
DNR
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, are designed with guidance from
local
DNR
fisheries managers.
2006 Lake
Quality Report
Submitted by
Rich Willhaus
During 2006,
our lake water was tested 5 times. A sample was taken each month
from May to September at a single location, that being the deepest
portion of the lake. There is a 72-foot spot on the lower basin
that has been the focus of the testing. It is considered that this
area is the best representation of the quality of the water in 11th
Crow Wing. Each month the sample from this location was sent to a
lab where phosphorous (P) and chlorophyll (Chl) are measured and
from an elaborate algorithm which includes lake area, lake clarity,
P, Chl; an index (TSI) is generated which can be used to compare to
other lakes.
The values of
the phosphorous in Hubbard county lakes are as high as 50+ and the
chlorophyll values may be as high as 30+. The secchi readings,
which is a visible measurement of clarity using a white disk, range
from 2 to 20+ with the TSI values ranging from low 30’s to the
70’s. In most cases the lower numbers are better with exception of
the Secchi readings where the higher numbers indicate a more clear
water reading.
As the year
progressed, the P and Chl measurements in 11th Crow Wing
decreased and then increased and the Secchi readings
increased and decreased indicating the water became more clear and
then less clear. This Secchi readings show a fair correlation to
the P and Chl measurements. From my observation, the data from our
lake are quite good when compared to other lakes in Hubbard county
|
Date |
P (ug/l) |
Chl (ug/l) |
Secchi
(ft) |
TSI
average |
|
May 15 |
17 |
9 |
9.0 |
47 |
|
June 18 |
6 |
3 |
15.0 |
36 |
|
July 17 |
8 |
1 |
18.0 |
33 |
|
Aug 20 |
11 |
6 |
12.0 |
43 |
|
Sept 16 |
19 |
6 |
11 |
46 |
|
Range
of data in Hubbard County |
3 - 110 |
1 - 88 |
1.5 -
27 |
31 - 73 |
Not a member?
BECOME ONE, it’s easy!
Mail $12
(annual dues -what a deal!) to Treasurer Lisa Hanson and you can VOTE at
the next meeting. Plus you will know that your dues are helping to pay
for this newsletter mailing, water clarity tests of your lake, and
supplies to build loon nests, etc. Thanks for supporting the health of
your lake!
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