How healthy is your shoreline?
The biggest threat to Michigan’s inland lakes is the loss of nearshore habitat. In the U.S. EPA’s National Lake Assessment, half of Michigan’s lakes were rated as poor, with another 20% as fair, for lakeshore habitat. Only 10% were listed as having problems with nutrients. Key causes of problems for the lakes include high-impact development…
Fish and weeds: Exploring the connection
We know that aquatic vegetation helps attract fish and shelter young fish from predators. But the precise interactions between fish and plants are not well understood. That leaves many questions about how to manage aquatic plants to support fisheries goals. Now the Midwest Gracial Lakes Partnership has awarded a $60,155 grant to the University of…
A book about walleyes? It’s about time!
Anglers treasure walleyes as tasty table fare, and as those mysterious fish that bite best at dusk or at night, and take a minnow-dressed jig with the deftness of a pickpocket.Now this fascinating species is immortalized in a book by Paul Radomski: Walleye: A Beautiful Fish of the Dark, published by University of Minnesota Press.…
Learn about lakes from Michigan’s experts
No matter where you live, Michigan has a lot to teach about protecting and preserving our inland lakes. Michigan Inland Lakes Convention: Protecting Lakes Today for Tomorrow will be held online September 14-16, via Zoom. Held every two years, the convention brings together passionate lakeshore owners, lake scientists, policymakers, and conservationists to spark new ideas…
Are you a lake steward?
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates has launched a program that would make Smokey Bear proud (see the previous post). The Lake Steward initiative delivers consistent messaging that encourages property owners to protect their lakes by managing their shorelines wisely and sustainably. The inspiration came from the Gull Chain of Lakes Association (GCOLA). The group began…
What Smokey Can Teach Us About Lake Stewardship
Take one look at the image of Smokey Bear and we know exactly what we should do to help prevent wildfires. We don’t even need to see a list. It’s burned into our memories. Now, what if we had a similar symbol, and a consistent message, about lake stewardship – the most essential things all of…
How Clear the Water?
Today is one of several during open-water season when I observe and measure the clarity of Birch Lake’s water. I do so as a member of Wisconsin’s Citizen Lake Monitoring Network, a group of volunteers who collect water-quality data on their lakes and share it with the state Department of Natural Resources. I do this with…
Eutrophic Lakes: It’s a Process
Mention a “eutrophic lake” and many people will picture a stagnant pool, matted with algae, murky, bad smelling, and generally unpleasant to be around. It really isn’t that simple. A eutrophic lake by definition is at a fairly advanced stage of a process called eutrophication, whereby the lake accumulates high levels of plant nutrients, chiefly…
Dragonfly Riot
It’s mostly over now, but for a couple of weeks dragonflies were everywhere around our place on Birch Lake, and probably around your lake, too. Maybe it was the happy coincidence of a dragonfly hatch with the emergence of late-May and early-June mosquitoes. All I know for sure is that the air was full of…