2011 Year End Report

FLLA 2011 Year End Summary Report

5th Annual Ice Clean Up (March 19th)
30 volunteers filled ½ a dumpster( donated by SRC)

Annual Meeting (March 30th)

90 people attended the meeting.
Educational guest speakers:

“Understanding Water Clarity and Algae Blooms” by Pamela Massaro PE, Wenk Associates

“ Programs for Improved Water Clarity” by Doug Thomas,Administrator, Comfort Lake- Forest Lake Watershed District

Wine Tasting Social/ Fundraiser ( June 3rd)

3rd annual wine tasting fundraiser was held at Vanneli’s restaurant to support our 2011 lake improvement programs.

Curly Leaf Pondweed(CLP) Management Program (May 17th)

170 acres of CLP was successfully treated on May 17 as follows: Lake 1(70 acres)…Lake 2 ( 37 acres)…..Lake 3( 63 acres). By preventing the rampant growth of this weed we were able :

1. Avoid the mat like weed mass at the surface which restricts recreational lake use.
2. Avoid the problem of 170 acres of CLP of dieing off and floating to shore in early July.
3. Prevent the release of an estimated 600 pounds of phosphorus from the decaying CLP which normally contributes to the summer algae bloom.

Weed Harvesting Program

The weed harvester is used primarily to keep channels open between the lakes, provide bay and public access to deeper lake water. This past year the harvester was not used because weeds in channels and bay entrances were not as bad as previous years.

Zebra Mussel Program

The FLLA contributed $1500 and the Watershed district contributed $4500 and applied for and won a boat launch inspection matching grant from the DNR. The grant provided 550 hours of boat inspections/education at the Forest Lake public launches to help reduce the risk of spreading invasive species such as zebra mussels and milfoil.

Boat Tie Up Social

In August we held a pontoon boat tie up.Aall who attended had an enjoyable afternoon!

Lake Monitoring

The DNR relies on volunteers to monitor lake water quality. This requires taking water samples and measuring water clarity 2x/mo from mid April to early October. This year, through additional volunteers from the Association, monitoring was expanded to lakes two and three. Better data on all three lakes will allow us to compete for more lake related grants. A special thanks to the following lake monitoring volunteers;

		Primary	Back up
	Lake 1...	Steve Schmaltz	Jack Beckman
	Lake 2...	Claus Mahler	Bob Abbott
	Lake 3...	Dennis Walcholz	Dennis Johnson

Building Support Relationships

During the past year we continued to maintain and build favorable relationships with the following organizations: City of Forest Lake, Watershed District, Mn Waters and the DNR.

We wish everyone the very best in the coming year!

FLLA Board of Directors

Aquatic Invasive Species Summary from MN Waters

Dear Friends of the Lake,
 
As the year ends and we begin to look to 2012, the Board wants to share with you a good Minnesota Waters summary of the issue of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and the risks to all Minnesota lakes.
 
Our current chemical treatment program addresses the issue of Curly Leaf Pondweed in Forest Lake.  Zebra Mussels are the major future AIS issue for the lake.
 
Next year, with the help of the local Watershed District, a technical assessment will be conducted to determine how susceptible Forest Lake is to supporting Zebra Mussels. An  aggressive  prevention and rapid response program will also be developed.
 
Please read the following Minnesota Waters AIS issue summary:

Zebra Mussels

Dear Friends of the Lake,
 
One of our major, continuing goals for Forest Lake is to prevent contamination by the invasive species zebra mussels.  Over the last two years the Association has worked with the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District to arrange for hundreds of boat ramp inspections/education by the DNR for zebra mussels. 
 
If zebra mussels do enter the lake, early detection will be key to a rapid response program to contain and fight the problem. Therefore, as you remove your docks/boats this fall, we’d like each of you to check them for zebra mussels (a hard, shell like structure). Report any findings to either Liz Swanson (651-347-0478) of the FLLA or Doug Thomas, Administrator, CLFL Watershed District (651-209-9753). 

If you would like additional information on this topic, we've included a link to the Minnesota DNR website that discusses zebra mussels in detail: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/zebramussel/index.html 

A year end report on the lake condition and accomplishments this year and plans for 2012 programs will be sent out in mid November.
 
Thanks for your ongoing support.
 
 
FLLA Board of Directors

Forest Lake Wrestling Dock Project

Dear Friends of the Lake,

The Forest Lake wrestling team is trying to raise money to support their sport by taking out docks and lifts. We are sending this information to our membership as a public service to the High School and also because our members may be interested in the service they offer. Please review the information below and contact the wrestling team if you are interested.

FLLA Board
 

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Need help taking your dock out of the lake for winter storage?

Do you like to give back to the community?

The Forest Lake High School Wrestling Team would like to partner with you.  The wrestlers have been taking docks out for residents on area lakes for several years.  We offer our services to the public to help raise funds for the wrestling program.  
All dollars go directly to the wrestling program!   

Dock Project Info:

Date:  Saturday, October 8th - All day - One day only!!!

Cost:  Negotiable, however a minimum donation of $150 is suggested.  We want to be flexible.  Our goal is to remove each dock within an hour.  We do request a larger donation for docks over 100', boat lifts, docks that are labor intensive or difficult to remove, and docks that take more than an hour to remove.  Again, donations are negotiable. We want to be fair and flexible.

Sign-up:  Due to time and resources, we are limiting ourselves to installing only 24 docks.  First come, first served!  After the first 24, we will start a waiting list.  So, please be sure to call or e-mail ASAP.

Contact:  Billy Pierce, FL Head Wrestling Coach, e-mail: wpierce@forestlake.k12.mn.us or call:651-491-9995

Information Needed:  When contacting to sign-up, please be ready to give specifics regarding your dock, such as: type of dock, dock length, water depth, boat/jet ski lifts, how long does it take you to remove?, and any other important information that can help us prepare.  We'll also need your address, phone #, e-mail address, and lake.

Appointment Times:  You should be contacted by Tuesday, October 4th with an appointment time.  When contacted, you will be given a 3 hour time slot for your dock removal appointment (e.g. 9:00am-12:00pm).  We will do our best to stick to the schedule.

Tools:  We will bring tools.  However, you will need to provide any special tools or equipment that are required for dock removal. 

Misc. Info.:   The Forest Lake Wrestling team will break up into 4 teams of 10-12 wrestlers, coaches and parents covering Clear Lake, Forest Lake, Martin lake and Linwood Lake.  Each team will be given 6 dock appointments and will start at House A and go to the next closest house down the shoreline.  Time slots will be based on the house we start at and the difficulty of the dock removal.

If you have any questions, please contact Billy Pierce at 651-491-9995 orwpierce@forestlake.k12.mn.us.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Billy Pierce
Forest Lake Area High school
Special Education Teacher
Head Wrestling Coach
(o)651-982-8422 ext. #2
(c)651-491-9995

Weeds & Weed Harvester Update

Dear Friends of the Lake,
 
This has been a very unusual season for lake vegetation. The lake vegetation/weed density and prevalence is way down. One reason might be that the early and late lake snow cover kept weeds from growing. The lake level has also been higher than the last several years.  In any event, not only has Curly Leaf Pondweed NOT been a nuisance in early July but the other lake vegetation has also been reduced.
 
Because of the absence of problem weeds, we have not incurred the expense of putting in the weed harvester. However, the hot weather might cause a sudden growth of weeds. If you are aware of any weed issues in the lake, please let us know. We can still respond and harvest weeds through August.
 
Please send us an email (ourforestlake@gmail.com) identifying any weed issues and give a specific location.
 
Wishing all of you the best this summer,
 
The FLLA Board Members