message from the President Jean Chadwick

Transcription

1 area association Vol. 9 Issue 2 August message from the President Jean Chadwick It s hard to believe we re half way through the summer. Today seems to be a leaf and brush clean up day after last evening storm. I want to thank Bruce Bjerke for the use of his canopy for the Debs parade. We did get one new member. She wanted one of the snap happy bags I made to give to those who joined at the parade. She got a bonus, the bargello flag quilt, as she and her husband were the only ones that joined. A big thank you to David Chadwick who helped erect and dismantle the canopy! Thanks also to Alleigh Chadwick, Zoe Chadwick, and Alyssa Iverson for helping man our booth. We did have some AIS questions and provided materials for those interested. I continue to expand my AIS knowledge. I attended a learning session on Moose lake with Megan Weber, Nicole Kovar, Dan Larkin, Pat Mulcahy, and other AIS Detectors. Megan, Pat, and Dan are with the University of MN Extension service, Dan is also an Associate Professor with the University of MN. Nicole works for the DNR and is the AIS Specialist for our region. Starry Stonewort was discovered at the Paradise Resort. We toured the lake and had the opportunity to throw rakes to examine the plant closely. I ve also signed up for Minnesota s Starry Stonewort on August 18th. Steve and I will meet in Bemidji and be assigned public accesses to throw rakes to determine if there are any new infestations. I ve also volunteered to help at the Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference October 15th through the 18th in Rochester, MN. By volunteering a minimum of 8 hours I will be able to attend the conference for free. Thank you Roz, for all your work setting up the Lakeshore Landscaping workshop. Hopefully we ll see more interest if we re able to offer similar programs in the future. Chester Powell, Program Technician with the Clearwater Soil and Water Conservation District said he d provide me with hand outs regarding AIS and the district tree sales for our fall meeting. Be sure to come to the meeting to see what will be available. An update on our Ecofootprint Shoreline Stabilization Grant. I spoke with Zach this morning and he is expecting final engineering plans this week for three of the selected sites, and the final plan for the last selected site next week. They will then complete the contracts with installation expected in September. A list of contractors has been provided to one of the sites selected. It is hoped that the same contractor would be selected for all sites to obtain better pricing. A Message from the President...continued on page 2 Labor Day Weekend Meeting & Pot Luck Meal All Members and Non-Members Are Welcome! Saturday Sept. 1, 2018 Moore s Garage (8 houses east of the public access) Board Meeting: 3:00 p.m. Pot Luck Meal: 5:00 p.m. General Meeting follows the meal Bring your favorite dish to pass along with plates, utensils and lawn chair coffee and lemonade provided

2 Happy Labor Day to all! We salute our great workforce and wish for a safe and happy ending to another wonderful summer on Clearwater Lake! Jean Chadwick President jcchadwick@outlook.com Skip Anderson Vice President & Loons clrwtr34@aol.com Bill Johnson Treasurer bill.johnson60@comcast.net JoLynn Chadwick Secretary-Web jjchadwick@q.com SPRING MEETING A Message from the President...continued Re-cap Here is a snap shot of items that were covered during the CLAA spring General Meeting: new members announced along with their cabin location additional contributions/donations to CLAA from individuals, Grant money and corporation matching funds four baby loons reported RMB Lab (water quality testing) has a new web site and members are encouraged to go online and check it out. lady slipper spraying to begin second week in June lakeshore workshop taking place July 2nd at Debs Community Center Enbridge Ecofootprint Grant update four property owners are participating Chadwick location was eliminated at this time due to extensive cost Debs Fourth of July Parade looking for volunteers; Jean Chadwick will have booth for CLAA member recruiting along with A.I.S. information newly formed Social Committee consisting of Judi Johnson, Carol Torgerson and Rachelle Ricke to plan various events during the year. First event is set for July 8th and the second event for August 11th Remember to go online to view the entire General Meeting Minutes before the fall meeting. Bruce Bjerke Board Member, Loons & Water Quality bbjerke@clearwater-polk.com Roz Johnson Board Member & Lady Slipper Project rjohnson2122@comcast.net Fred Sundquist Board Member wisdom@gvtel.com CLAA is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Membership dues and all donations are fully tax deductible. EIN # Page 2 A big thank you to our social committee for their efforts. Hopefully we ll see more participation with future planned events. I look forward to hearing from them at our fall meeting. It s election time again! The following positions are up for re-election: JoLynn Chadwick, secretary and web master; Roz Johnson, weed control & Board member; Bruce Bjerke, water quality & Board member. The following terms will end in the fall of 2019: Skip Anderson, Vice President; Bill Johnson, Treasurer; Fred Sundquist, Board member; and myself, president. Please consider becoming a part of our Board. New ideas and new blood can renew excitement and participation. I do not plan to run for the Board next fall. Per the by-laws, I would remain on the Board for an additional three years to support the newly elected president. Invite your neighbors on the lake to join us for the fall meeting, we should have preliminary reports from the fish survey completed the first week of August by the DNR Fisheries. Steve and I went out to watch them pull the gill nets on July 31st. They started on the east side of the lake and continued to set the nets around the remainder of the lake for the week. The last survey was completed five years ago. Hopefully we ll have a complete report available at our spring meeting and with a little luck will be able to have a speaker to talk more about the survey. I hope to see you and your neighbors on September 1st! The Clearwater Lake Area Association shall improve and maintain the environment and quality of life

3 WORKSHOP Follow Up CLAA sponsored a free educational program in July on Lakeshore Landscaping at the Debs Community Center. Casey Thiel, Water Resource Specialist from Chisago County SWCD, gave an excellent presentation on this topic. If you missed the program, you can view Casey s presentation by visiting the CLAA website and select the menu item on the left for Online Resources. The presentation is the first item on top. Select the link to view. Several property owners are facing major challenges on Clearwater Lake due to eroding lake shore banks putting their cabins closer to the bank s edge. Shorelines also change when soil erosion occurs through wave and ice-out action. All of us are concerned about water quality and keeping our lake free of aquatic invasive species (AIS). There are measures we can take to improve our shores, reduce harmful run-off, improve water quality and provide better habitat for birds, butterflies and fish. by Roz Johnson, CLAA Board Member Steps lakeshore property owners can take to improve lake water quality: Consider not using lawn fertilizer. If you do use lawn fertilizer, apply sparingly, don t apply near water and use zero-phosphorus lawn fertilizer. One pound of phosphorus can fuel the growth of over 500 pounds of lake algae! By law, Minnesota homeowners cannot use lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus, except for a couple exemptions. When shopping, buy a fertilizer that has a middle number of zero (i.e ), meaning the fertilizer is phosphorusfree. If you have downspouts, check where the water flows out. If the water is flowing out toward the lake, it is washing a lot of pollutants (i.e. pet waste, grass clipping) down into the lake. Divert downspouts so rain water flows behind your cabin if possible. Consider planting a native plant garden or rain garden in low areas near the lake. Installing a rain garden can help soak up rain water and filter water run-off. Rain gardens are planted with hardy, water-living perennial plants. More birds and butterflies will find your yard if you add milkweed and other native plants. Plant a native plant buffer strip along part of your shoreline. Many lakeshore owners do not use all of their shoreline for recreational activities. Think about how you use your shoreline space. Leave an open area for swimming and a dock and add a native plant buffer to the balance of your shoreline. Press Release provided to The Bemidji Pioneer and The Leader-Record. There are many resources available to lakeshore owners to implement these steps. Both Clearwater County and Beltrami County Soil and Water Conservation District staff can answer questions and provide helpful resources. An excellent free resource is Clearwater County Shoreland Homeowner s Guide to Lake Stewardship Clearwater County SWCD: or Beltrami County SWCD: through education, awareness, and responsibility of our community, for ours and future generations. Page 3

4 Andrew and Clark from the Minnesota DNR, pulling in the gill nets, July 31st on Clearwater Lake. Preliminary data should be available on September 1 and the results will be shared with members at our fall meeting. REMINDER Pay Your CLAA Dues at the Fall Meeting or Send to CLAA Treasurer Bill Johnson 785 Clearbrook Lane Vadnais Heights, MN AIS Specialist for our region: Nicole Kovar, Invasive Species Specialist Ecological & Water Resources If anything is looking suspicious...take note of the exact location; take a photo or keep a specimen; then call the specialist.

5 CLOTHING WEBSITE has arrived! Click on the link below to go to the website page designed by Court Sports in Owatonna, MN. This page has been set up for our CLAA Members to order clothing depicting the Clearwater Lake Area Association logo. This is our first selection of various items. We can always add more or eliminate items as we see fit. There are 18 items to choose from. Please note: the t-shirts and sweat shirts will have varying degree in weights which will reflect a difference in the prices. Orders will be pulled the first of each month. However, if ordering for Christmas gifts, please have your orders in by Any questions you may have, please direct them to Courst Sports by or you can call them directly. (information at the bottom of the screen) You WILL NOT have to login/create a password for ordering. Happy Shopping!!