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Good evening. My name is Nick Williams and I am co
chair of the Presque Isle Town Lakes Committee, I live on Crab Lake and
I am on the Crab Lake Property Owners Association Board of Directors.
For those of you that haven’t heard of the Town Lakes Committee, I’d
like to tell you a bit about us.
The Town Lakes Committee was created by the Town Board in 2005 as a way
to try to learn more about aquatic invasive species. It was known at the
time there were invasive species making their way toward Presque Isle’s
lakes, it was also known that there was money available from both the
state and the DNR to set up programs to combat the invasion, and it was
understood that none of us wanted invasive species in our Presque Isle
lakes.
In September 2005, under a resolution passed by the town board the
various Presque Isle lake associations were asked if they were
interested in becoming part of this committee. 10 lake associations
responded by asking some of their residents to become representatives.
This is the core of the committee – 30 residents from 10 lake
associations.
Now, almost 5 years later, we have settled on our mission and have some
fine accomplishments to our credit.
“Our mission is to learn all we can about invasive species, to apply for
as much grant money as the DNR will give us for projects, to find out
what is and is not in our lakes, to monitor our lakes, to inform the
public that we are worried, and, should we find invasive species in any
of our lakes, to undertake treatment plans while the invasion is still
in its infancy.”
Our accomplishments are becoming obvious.
We have learned about invasive species through classes, seminars and via
networking with the county’s Invasive Species Coordinator and with other
Vilas County town lakes committees.
In 2006 we successfully applied for a DNR lake study grant to study 9 of
our lakes. The field work was performed on the lakes during the summer
of 2007 and the final reports should be available shortly. The net in
process contract with Bonestroo, Inc of Waupun, Wisconsin, is for
$50,473 of which the DNR’s share is $44,841.
In 2008 we successfully applied for a second DNR lake study grant, this
time to study 8 of our lakes. The field work was performed during the
summer of 2008 and the final reports will also be available shortly. The
net in process contract with Bonestroo, Inc of Waupun, Wisconsin, is for
$55,012 of which the DNR’s share is $41,259.
In 2009 we successfully applied for a third DNR lake study grant, this
time to study 12 lakes and 2 rivers over the next two years. The field
work will be performed over the summers of 2010 and 2011, the final
reports will be available in 2011 and 2012. The net in process contract
with Whitewater Associates of Amasa, Michigan, is for $150,612 of which
the DNR’s share is $100,000.
All 3 of these successful grants, when completed, will give us a base
line on the aquatic plant populations on 29 of our lakes - the largest
lakes, the lakes with the public boat landings, the lakes with the most
traffic and the lakes most at risk - plus two of our rivers.
In 2008 we successfully applied for a DNR educational grant to improve
the signage at 6 boat landings by replacing the kiosks. Half of the
kiosks were constructed in 2009; the balance will be constructed in
2010. 75% of the cost, or $12,919.04, will be paid for by the DNR and
25% will be paid for by ‘in kind volunteer hours’. The kiosks will allow
us to standardize the placement of current AIS bulletins plus any other
DNR and town information. Town information can include slow no wake and
other boating ordinance details.
Besides applying for the various grants, we have implemented a program
to inform the public by randomly staffing the boat landings to inspect
launching boats, motors and trailers for unwanted plant material. The
program is called Clean Boats/Clean Waters and relies on teaching the
boating public how they can help prevent the spread of invasive species
by keeping their gear clean. We also inform the public by asking bait
shops to put labels on bait containers, by having a booth at the Country
Fair, by providing printed materials to fishing tournaments, by
submitting articles to newspapers, and more.
We have rolled out one additional program in the last few years called
Adopt-a-Shoreline. In this program lake volunteers inspect the entire
lake basin, to depths of 20 feet, of their lake looking for invasive
weeds. The inspection is usually done by canoe, kayak or hydrobike every
3 to 4 weeks and is a way to find problem plants early, before they take
over. Since each volunteer knows their assigned shoreline through
multiple inspections throughout the open water season, they are the ones
best able to spot an invader and report a potential problem.
And finally, we will be continuing our very successful children’s
education program. This is an AIS prevention program where we present a
song, story and craft program at various libraries and camps. This gets
the word about AIS prevention out to the youngest residents and
visitors.
Everything we’ve done, all the programs we’ve worked on, all the
volunteer hours we’ve put in, is in preparation for the arrival of the
first invasive plant. When the first plant is spotted we will apply for
emergency funds through DNR treatment grants, hire whatever professional
necessary to combat and try to aggressively manage our waters. By being
proactive with our programs we hope to either avoid or minimize the high
treatment cost of keeping our LAST WILDERNESS LAKES pristine.
Where are the closest invasive species? Curly leaf pondweed is in HARRIS
LAKE in WINCHESTER; Spiny Water Flea is in Lake Gogebic; and Eurasian
milfoil is in the UP’s Ottawa National Forest and also in Land O Lakes’
Cisco Chain. Otherwise it is as close as the nearest trailer, boat or
motor being pulled down the road with dangling weeds or hidden invasives
on boat hulls, motors, anchors, bait containers or in live wells.
The truth is, the burden to combat invasive species really falls on
volunteers and the shoreline property owner. We’d like to encourage
other Presque Isle residents, even the off water residents, to
participate in our programs. Please volunteer your time and effort to
help protect our greatest natural resource - our lakes. Invasive species
only spread through the careless actions of people. The more we inspect
and monitor, the less it will cost us all. If you see plant material on
anyone’s boating equipment, ask them to remove it. You are helping to
protect our lakes and it didn’t cost a penny.
NOTES
Lakes studied in 2007 (9): Averill, Big, Crab, Little Crab, Little
Horsehead, North Crab, Oxbow, Presque Isle and Wildcat. Total contract
$50,473.00 (Grant Application $44,841.00); DNR 67% or $33.630.75; Town
of PI 23% or $11,835.84; Lake Associations and private individuals 10%
or $5,006.41. The difference between the contract and the grant
application has to do with the studying of N Crab (paid for by the town
and private individuals) and Little Crab (paid for by the town and
private individuals).
Lakes studied in 2008 (8): Annabelle, Armour, Cathaline, Horsehead,
Lynx, Mabel, Papoose and Van Vliet. Total contract $55,012; DNR 75% or
$41,259; Town of PI, Lake Associations and private individuals 25% or
$13,753.
Lakes and rivers to be studied in 2010 and 2011 (14): Phase one: Round,
Katinka, Carlin, Stateline, Rudolph, south Branch Presque Isle River,
Rice Creek and Lone Pine. Phase Two: McCullough, Morton, Dunn, Beaver,
Twin Island and Little Presque Isle. Net contract $150,612; DNR share
$100,000; Town of PI, Lake Associations, In-Kind contributions and
private individuals $50,612.
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