Make a donation to the Long Lake Preservation Association

Invading Invasives - Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS)

We all know what we have here.  A lake with few peers.  Thirty-three hundred acres of fishing,  sailing, towing and being towed, swimming or just relaxing and watching the critters and the seasons pass by.  Although the groundwater is fairly high in natural phosphorus, particularly in the upper lake, the state of the lake remains mainly in the mesotrophic  stage, that balance between ultra-clear and green which gives the most to the most users.  Relatively free of algae blooms, it is a state which, given appropriate shoreline practices, should remain for years to come.  In short, it is a gem.

And like a gem, it can be stolen.  Make no mistake about it, we can lose it in a heartbeat.  A small green invader, perhaps no bigger than a thumbnail, arrives one day.  It may come on the propeller or trailer of a boat, in a live well, in a minnow bucket later dumped in the lake, or on the hooks of a fishing lure.  It can even arrive by duck.  It sinks to the bottom, finds a home in soft soil, and grows.   And grows.   AND GROWS!   Its name?   Eurasian Water Milfoil, or EWM.

EMW is the only one of several water milfoils present in Wisconsin waters which is not native.  It invaded in the 1960’s, and has spread aggressively.  It forms tangled underwater masses of stems and  thick mats of vegetation on the surface.  It can choke out native vegetation, degrade water quality and native aquatic habitat and seriously hinder swimming and boating.  It spreads mainly by fragmentation, which makes it extremely portable; a small slip soon becomes a new plant.  It is already present in several lakes in Washburn and surrounding counties, its presence most unwelcome.  The WDNR reports it already costs Wisconsin citizens literally millions of dollars annually in control costs and lost tourist revenue.

Long Lake is at high risk for aquatic invaders.  Its attractiveness could be its downfall.  Being a destination lake for many it hosts many boats which have been in many waters, some of which are undoubtedly contaminated with EWM.  Boats and trailers easily transport EWM and other unwanted invasive species.

In 2010 the LLPA Board of Directors decided we could no longer sit back and hope it never happens here.  That would most assuredly mean it will.  Thus the Board retained the engineering and consulting firm of Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) to assist in applying for a DNR “AIS [aquatic invasive species] Education, Prevention and Planning” grant for the purposes of: determining a baseline of plant species population and their distribution;  establishing  a Clean Boats Clean Waters program of boater education and boat inspection at landings;  establishing  a group of volunteers to periodically inspect the entire lake for invasive species;  and creating a plan of rapid response if invasives  are ever found.

The grant application was prepared, and The Board approved its submittal to DNR. It included not only Long and Mud Lakes but also lakes upstream of them, including Slim Lake, Slim Creek Flowage,  Big and Little Devil’s Lakes and Twin Lakes.  Following some negotiated changes to the basic plan, the Grant application was approved.  Budgeted project costs are approximately $137,000, with DNR funding 75%.  The balance must come from LLPA and its lake partners, with the good news being that our contribution can consist partly or entirely of volunteered time, and there is need for a great deal of it.  It’s going to be a lot of work, and friends, the work starts NOW, and your help is needed!

WHAT YOU WILL SEE

Aquatic Plant Surveys.  Implementation of the project will be quite visible.  There will be two plant surveys of all partner lakes to determine what is there now.  This work is sub-contracted by SEH and will not involve local citizen labor.  Surveys involve identifying all aquatic vegetation approximately every 80 yards throughout the entire littoral zone, the areas shallow enough for plants to grow.  The first survey will take place early, and is designed primarily to map out areas already infested by curly leaf pondweed.  This invasive species, much slower spreading than EWM but a nuisance nonetheless, is known to exist on the inside of Holy Island and south of the narrows, extending approximately to the New Rockford landing.  Complete identification of the extent of its presence will be helpful in determining the need for future control efforts.  This survey will be conducted fairly early because curly leaf pondweed is an early arrival, starting its annual growth under the ice and dying off around mid-July.

The second survey will be conducted later in the summer when all other plants are in full growth.  It will provide a baseline inventory of what is present now, and presumably identify EWM if any is in fact present.

Clean Boats Clean Waters.  In this program workers staff boat landings to interview boaters about to launch or leave and, with their permission, inspect the boat and trailer for any aquatic vegetation.  The primary function of CBCW is to educate boaters of the hazards of transporting vegetation, fish or even water from one lake to another, and to explain Wisconsin’s fairly strict rules on those subjects which took effect last year (see sidebar).   No one wants to harm the lake, but not everyone appreciates the dangers posed by aquatic invasive species and the ease with which they can invade one lake from another.

Boat inspection can also be effective.  The Spider Chain of Lakes Association, Sawyer County, reports that in 2007 its CBCW inspectors found aquatic vegetation on 56 boats, and three were EWM!  But for their boat inspection program those lakes almost certainly would have been invaded.   It must be emphasized, however, that the inspectors, identified by blue shirts or aprons, are not law enforcers.  Their function is primarily educational.  They will interview those who choose to speak with them; they will be neither confrontational nor insistent.

There will also be new signs at landings, advising of the prohibitions of transporting aquatic life or lake water.  These will be erected as soon as they become available.

It is of course not possible to have inspectors at all landings at all times; Long Lake alone has five public landings, with several more on the partner lakes.  Busiest times and busiest landings will be targeted.  Nonetheless, several hundred hours are budgeted for the summer of 2011, and personnel are needed.  Training is scheduled in April and May, 2011.  We need volunteers to help protect these lakes.  You can help.

AIS Inspection.  This may be the fun part.  Once in May, and twice a month the rest of the summer, volunteers are needed to patrol an assigned portion of shoreline and quite literally rake up weeds for the purpose of identifying invasive species, primarily EWM and curly leaf pondweed.  Training in plant identification and techniques will be provided, and a kit of necessary materials and identification guides will be provided to each team.  A Rapid Response Plan will be in effect, guiding team members on what to do if they find suspicious plants.  Volunteers on all partner lakes are needed.

Team members will also keep eyes out for other invasives, such as zebra mussels, rusty crayfish, and Purple Loosestrife, a flowering plant sometimes found along shorelines.  But this is where all lake residents can be of help.  Check dock legs periodically; if zebra mussels get in the lake, that’s a good place to find them.  If you have a rocky shoreline, turn rocks over periodically looking for crayfish; if it has a large reddish spot on each side, it may be a rusty.  There are several other flowering plants which resemble Purple Loosestrife, but if you are suspicious and don’t have a plant guide, call someone who does.  Identification cards will be available at the annual meeting of LLPA and at all Cakes at the Lake presentations.

What You Can Do

Help is Needed.  This project is obviously labor intensive, and it must be underway soon.  Volunteers are needed both for CBCW activities at the landings, and to conduct on water AIS inspections.   Realistically, some CBCW personnel will have to be hired, but it can’t all be hired, and remember, every volunteered hour applies against our approximately $35,000 commitment to this project.  To volunteer, or if you just have questions, contact our summer AIS coordinator, Travis VanBeek.  He may be contacted at info@longlakellpa.org.  You will be notified of training session opportunities, be your choice CBCW or AIS inspections.  For those who don’t fish the opener entirely from dawn to dusk, an AIS training session will be held at the Long Lake Town Hall on May 7 at 4:00 P.M.   You will be home in plenty of time to grill the day’s catch.  Please let Travis know you’re coming if possible.

AIS RELATED BOATING LAWS

It is illegal to:

Please review Wisconsin Boating Regulations for full detail.


Return to Long Lake Preservation Association Programs & Events