WINTER 2022 NEWSLETTER Long Lake Waters Association |
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Our mission is to provide collaborative leadership in improving and protecting the water quality of the Long Lake Creek Watershed for the enjoyment of present and future generations |
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SEVEN LAKES - THREE CITIES - ONE WATERSHED |
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Welcome to winter in the Long Lake Creek Watershed! As we enjoy short days with often brilliant colorful sunsets,
we still have opportunities to observe the incredibly resilient creatures that spend their winters here, and to be active and enjoy the watershed. |
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What’s happening: Community Support LLWA is grateful for the support we have continued to receive from donors and members, particularly during Minnesota Give to the Max Day. We also extend our thanks to Lakeside Wine & Spirits who featured LLWA on their signage and in their social media as part of their Giving Thanks month in November. Annual Members Meeting We appreciated a good turnout for our annual (Zoom) meeting in November, during which Dr. Przemek Bajer, the chief scientist at Carp Solutions reviewed the 2021- 2022 carp removal project on Long Lake. Dr. Bajer, a nationally renowned carp biologist spoke about the ongoing efforts to reduce the carp population to the threshold levels that are recommended safe for the environment. Carp removal can have multiple benefits on lake ecosystems. Dr. Bajer explained that carp dig in the lake bottom while looking for food. This digging reduces water clarity and releases nutrients from the sediments into the water, which can increase the blooms of algae suspended in the water. Digging also uproots aquatic plants, which native fish use for habitat. The removal of carp can have positive effects on water clarity and improve the biodiversity of plants, fish, and invertebrates that inhabit the lake and watershed. Carp Solution's updated estimates of the carp population in Long Lake are lower than previous estimates and thus a more meaningful carp reduction this coming year is a real possibility.We are working on a plan — stay tuned! If you are interested in contributing to the effort, or learning more about our work, donation opportunities and more information can be found on the LLWA website (https://www.longlakewaters.org/give-to-the-max). |
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New Board Members We are delighted to welcome three new elected members to the board: Elizabeth Bower, Joanne Pastel, and Janet Schaefer. |
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| | Beth Bower and her family recently moved to Orono from Lake Bluff, IL. Beth has had long career in education and is interested in devising lessons to help teachers and students become active, engaged citizens. She has a lifelong appreciation for the outdoors and looks forward to helping LLWA address the fragile ecosystem of our water shed. |
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| | JoAnne Pastel lives on Long Lake in Orono. She is the founder and president of Aspire Marketing Group which focuses on “Helping those shine who really need to shine” for companies and non-profits. She bring a long and rich experience in leadership, fundraising, community organization and outreach for a number of national and local non-profits to the LLWA Board. |
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| | Janet Schaefer lives on Long Lake in the City of Long Lake and has a farmstead in Medina. She is SVP of Altair Global Relocation and has served on the board of several other non-profits and as mayor of the City of Long Lake. She has vast experience in communication and working with city councils and government agencies to get things done. She is interested in projects to reduce invasive species and lakeshore erosion. |
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Earth Day Saturday - Walk for Water! Looking ahead to warmer weather (we can dream, right?), we hope you will join us for our Earth Day Walk for Water on Saturday, April 23 (the day after Earth Day) from 2:00-4:00 pm. We will meet in Summit Park to celebrate our beautiful watershed and build community as we clean up the lake trail, learn about invasive species and water quality from experts, and enjoy interactive activities to engage all ages! Come curious and help foster the vitality of the Long Lake Creek Watershed. Families encouraged, dogs welcome. We will see you at 2:00 pm at the trailhead in Summit Park at 455 E Long Lake Rd, Orono, MN 55256. |
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What’s moving Fish While winter may seem a time of dormancy, lots is still happening out of sight. Fish are still moving under the ice, carp often form large aggregations, and fisherman are consequently out on the ice looking for dinner! Keeping ice holes open can be a challenge for ice fishers in frigid temperatures, but please do not use antifreeze or other chemicals to keep holes open. These chemicals are toxic for fish, birds of prey, pets, and other animals on the ice. Using vegetable oil or hot water from a thermos can help keep ice holes open safely. Or, use some of the tips found here - there are plenty of safe methods available that don't damage the environment! Maple Sap In late February or early March, temperatures during the day generally rise above freezing. During the few weeks when temperatures continue to drop below freezing at night, sap in trees starts moving, delivering carbohydrates to branches that will soon leaf out. While birch and black walnut trees are rich with edible sap, maple trees are the rock stars of the spring sap scene. In the tradition of Wolsfeld Woods (which remains largely intact thanks to commercial maple syrup production until the 1940s), taps and buckets appear on maple trees in the area to collect the clear water-like sap that flows through the trees. Water As snow and ice melt, water drains into our wetlands and lakes, often taking road salt along with it. About 78% of the estimated 365,000 tons of salt used in the metro area each year ends up in our waterways. Just one teaspoon of salt permanently pollutes five gallons of water as there is no way to remove dissolved chloride from water. "There is no feasible way to remove chloride once it dissolves in water. Combine that with the damage salt does to the environment, future drinking water supplies, and infrastructure - the cost of chloride pollution is enormous" (Sue Nissen, SOS Founder) With the next rainfall or snow melt, everything from the roads, driveways and parking lots will flow into the lakes and rivers, even into the groundwater. You can help protect our waterways by avoiding the use of salt on private driveways and walkways. This will help preserve the pH of our bodies of water, which in turn helps support the fish and insects that are part of healthy water ecosystems. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency provides helpful tips on how to reduce salt use. |
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Birds Migratory birds, and many of our snowbird neighbors have gone south for the short winter days, but many birds of prey, including Red-tailed hawks, Barred owls, Great Horned owls, and Bald eagles survive the winter hunting various prey including field mice. If you aren’t delighted by field mice in your house or garage, setting out old-fashioned mouse traps instead of poisons benefits birds of prey. Commercial mouse poisons make their way from mice into the food chain and inadvertently poison these spectacular cold-hardy birds. |
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Barred Owl (Photo Credit: Becky Field) |
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What’s growing: Lichen While few plants grow in winter, lichen, which is actually a trio of algae and fungi, do continue to grow during the winter. You may recognize lichen in tiny clusters on sticks or stones in a surprising array of colors. Lichen gather all of their nutrients from the air, not from the surfaces they grow on, so are a good indicator of air quality. So, if you see a healthy patch of lichen, breathe deeply of the good quality air that is supporting them! |
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Long Lake Creek Subwatershed AssessmentFive lakes in the Long Lake Creek Subwatershed are listed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as being impaired for water quality due to excess nutrients: Holy Name, School, Wolsfeld, Long, and Tanager. |
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How to help: Volunteers Long Lake Waters Association is looking for watershed residents to volunteer for special projects and to be lake liaisons, especially on School, Holy Name, Dickey, Wolsfeld, Long Lake and Tanager. What do you see? Please let us know what you are seeing in the watershed, either conditions or problems you are concerned about, or positive feedback and community actions. You can reach out by email to longlakewaters@gmail.com, or share on our Facebook or Instagram feeds. Help us grow! Spread the word about LLWA, check out our website at https://www.longlakewaters.org/ follow us on Instagram or Facebook, share this newsletter with friends and neighbors, invite a friend to our Earth Day event on April 23. |
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Long Lake Waters Association PO Box 195 Long Lake, MN 55356 www.longlakewaters.org longlakewaters@gmail.com A Minnesota 501(c)(3) |
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