Horseshoe Lake Improvement Association

Hybrid Eurasian Watermilfoil Update
Report to the Horseshoe Lake Association
Presented by the Nasty Weed Committee
August 6, 2007

There has been quite a bit of activity over the summer months regarding the work being done on managing the Hybrid Eurasian Watermilfoil. This report will help to highlight events and other significant activity that is important to our work in managing this invasive aquatic plant. Further updates will be provided at the Labor Day Lake Association picnic/meeting.

Department of Natural Resources - We have been fortunate to have connected with Dave Blumer, a DNR aquatic plant specialist, out of the Spooner DNR headquarters. Dave has been extremely helpful in providing information and guidance on the various options for control available to us. His interest has been especially helpful as he has traveled to meet with us on several occasions and while here toured the lake to observe first hand the status of the plant growth. Dave has also introduced us to Pam Toshner who is the DNR grant coordinator who has also been in contact with our committee on moving into the Rapid Response stage of the process.

Initial Lake Point Mapping - on June 29th Matt Berg did a 100 point initial mapping of our lake to satisfy the requirements of the DNR as a preview to a full-intercept mapping process required for a Rapid Response Grant application. This initial mapping gave us a good idea of where the plants are located in some of the major population areas. This is not a complete survey yet it did give us a general idea of our situation. The outcome showed that we have from 1% to 2% of our lake surface infested with the hybrid plant. We qualify for a Rapid Response Grant if we have less than 5% coverage, which was extremely good news in our ability to maintain the progression of this invasive plant and get on a good, quality management program. Matt has proven to be a good partner and we will maintain a relationship with him for future needs he can fulfill.

Education

1. Pam Nelson attended a training session on invasive aquatic plants in June. This event took place in Cable, WI and was sponsored by the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. This was recommended by the DNR and provided great insights into future possibilities, the state of Eurasian Watermilfoil in the state and how to manage it. There was a particular interest by the presenters from Stevens Point in our lake because we have the hybrid plant. We will keep that connect as we move forward and need help with various aspects of our plan.



2. When we contacted the DNR to attain permission to begin a weed pulling process we were advised to invite Jane Swenson to an association meeting to show her techniques in pulling this weed. We did that on July 14 with a special called meeting. We took the liberty of also inviting Matt Berg to attend as we had already committed to working with his group of student divers from Grantsburg High School. Prior to meeting with the lake association several of our committee members and a board member tours the lake with these two to do visual sightings of the hybrid water milfoil as a preview to our meeting. It became clear through the day that both of these people had different techniques in the pulling process. As a committee, and with a follow-up recommendation from the DNR, we elected to work with the process Matt Berg outlined during his visit with the association and his diving expedition.

Diving - We engaged Matt Berg and his Grantsburg Dive Team to pull weeds in Horseshoe Lake. They came on 2 different days, July 18th and 24th. It is estimated that they pulled in excess of 600 plants during their 2 visits. A special thank you to Pam Nelson for coordinating these efforts and to Jerry Hedlund for providing his pontoon and time during the first day. A special thank you also to the Nackeruds for arranging lunch and offering their home to the divers in serving the lunch. This is a slow and tedious process but, we are still in a very good position to find this technique effective. Diving is less of an option as the season progresses and the water becomes murky and there is less visibility. We are planning to resume this process in the early spring as the hybrid Eurasian Watermilfoil is the first plant to spout up in the spring making the processing of pulling a lot easier especially with the clear water visibility. We have researched and found several other diving resources to compliment when Matt Berg has provided. We are also very fortunate to have several certified divers on our lake who have already been a resource for us as well.

Chemical Application - This is a process we have tried to minimize. However, as the divers were touring the lake it became evident that there are several spots that may require chemical treatment because of the more dense population of the hybrid plant. We will be working with the DNR to properly identify those areas as we proceed with the Rapid Response Grant and the Full Point Intercept Survey we will be conducting in the future. The lake residents, whose property is adjacent to these chemical treatment areas, will also be notified when this process is scheduled to begin. This process will be fully coordinated with the Lake Association during the Rapid Response Grant process.

Rapid Response Grant - This is a critical part of our maintenance process as the DNR will provide required funding that we may not be able to support without their help. Not only will the funding be a requirement but we will also need permits and other consultative help that will only come when working with them as a partner through the grant process. Here are specific details of the grant:

1. Full Point Intercept Survey - We have already tentatively schedule Matt Berg and his company The Endangered Species to do the Full Point Intercept Survey early spring. There are over 500 intercept points on our lake and he will be mapping all of them during this process. Matt is extremely thorough and this is a very critical part of all future plans for our lake.



2. 50/50 Matching Funds - This grant is a 50/50 program. As a lake association we will need to commit to a 50% match of all expenses in this program. The maximum funding available is up to $20,000 for a 2 year period. We have begun the application process with the DNR who has already given us tentative approval based on preliminary information we have provided.



3. Diving - we have allowed for quite a bit of focus on future diving to manage the hybrid Eurasian Watermilfoil weed population. We want to keep focused as long as it is possible to keep a perspective on doing maintenance without chemical or biological intervention, even though we know that won't be 100% possible.



4. Chemical application - We have accounted for using chemical treatment in approximately 1% of our lake (about 3.5 acres). This is tentatively planned for 2 applications, one in early spring and one in the later summer/early fall. This is the ideal time for chemical application as the Eurasian Watermilfoil is the first plant to come up and last one to die off each year. Since there is no substantial evidence contrary to that with the hybrid version that we have, it will be treated much the same.



5. Localized chemical treatment around docks. - We have been advised by the DNR that they will be carefully monitoring and may deny permits to apply chemicals around dock areas next year. They want all of the chemical treatments to be handled as part of the official Watermilfoil program and are concerned about the killing off of good weeds that may be helpful in the control of the invasive plants. It is also important to note that there are weed pellets being sold on the market today that are illegal to use without an official DNR permit. It's interesting to note that it is not illegal to purchase them but it is illegal to use them without a proper permit. Since our lake will be heavily monitored by the DNR going forward, our lake residents need to be mindful of this issue and potential consequences in not following the appropriate laws
.

For further information please contact one of the following:

Pam Nelson
Email: pjninsurance@aol.com
Phone: 715-986-2963
-- or --
Virginia J. Flo
Email: Virginia.flo@thomson.com [or] vjflo@comcast.net
Phone: 715-986-4526 (lake)
651-452-3820 (home)

Back to News Page