Guest blog by Dr. John Richard Saylor – Author of “Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death,” (https://johnrichardsaylor.com/index.html). The environmental segment of a typical popular science magazine or news show can be prettygloomy. Stories on global warming, as just one example, point toward a future of rising sealevels, torrential floods, and searing droughts. While these stories… Read more »
These hot and muggy dog days are perfect lake weather, perfect for swimming in the lake, waterskiing and other water sports. Unfortunately, it is also becoming primetime for the algae blooms that can spread across the lakes we love and make swimming, skiing and watersports impossible. There are many different types of algae, from the… Read more »
Get the Lead Out is a program at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our mission is to educate about the dangers of lead fishing tackle to Minnesota’s loons and wildlife. Impacts of lead on loons: Lead poisoning from ingesting lead tackle is a leading… Read more »
The best plants to protect your shore – A Case Study By Jeff Forester On June 19, 2012 it began to rain in northern Minnesota. It poured actually. Over ten inches fell on ground that was already saturated from rainfalls the week before. The damage was incredible, with over 250 families displaced, zoo animals drowned,… Read more »
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates invites Lake Association members to attend our Lake Steward Webinar Launch 2022, taking place on March 29th from 7:30-8:30PM via Zoom. Register HERE. Previously, Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates’ Lake Steward Program has operated under the guidance of individual volunteers through inspired lake associations. After receiving feedback from our volunteers,… Read more »
Lloyd Thyen’s grandparents originally purchased 100’ of lakeshore on Lawrence Lake in Cass County in the 1940’s with a vertical log cabin on site. Some believe it to have been the oldest structure on Lawrence Lake. Eventually the cabin had to be torn down and the family used the ice house as the cabin until… Read more »
Connecting with new shoreline owners as they are starting to make decisions about how to develop their lots is critical to protecting water quality. Including Lake Steward in the Land Use Permit Application is a huge step in accomplishing this. This is the first time that any Local Government Unit has included specific shoreline management… Read more »
As lake leaders you know that the threats to our lakes, and MN’s lake heritage, are mounting. In 2020 the MPCA, after extensive testing, listed 56% of Minnesota’s lakes as impaired. This year they added another 305 water bodies to the list. Agricultural runoff, industrial pollution, salt from our roads, phosphorus from lakeshore management, are… Read more »
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates launched Lake Steward to support lake associations as they improve water quality, increase lake association visibility, and boost membership efforts. Lake Steward has succeeded where other efforts have failed, by using a quiz to get lakeshore owners interested, and then making contact which is personal and centered on the individual… Read more »
Soil health is defined as the “ability of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem”. Sounds simple enough, but our entire food system has been built around looking at soil as a storage medium for chemical nutrients. Having researched organic (the true meaning of organic originated as recognizing the living, biological component of soil)… Read more »