With the increase in the popularity of boating recreation, towed watersports and wake surfing, the need to better understand the impacts of wakes and prop thrust on lake ecology. This is phase one of a three phase study into the issue.
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MLR and County Partners Launch Statewide Aquatic Invasive Species PAS Series
Counties across Minnesota and Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates have come together to produce a unique ‘How Well Do You Know Minnesota?’ series that provides MN fun facts and information about aquatic invasive species. The series launched May 1st and will run through September 30th with a different video showcased each month. This video series… Read more »
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers 2024 Legislative Update
The 2024 session was extremely short, mid-February to mid-May. This meant that there was very little time for complex or controversial legislation to work its way through the process. MLR set a more modest legislative agenda this year, focusing on issues on which we had been able to initiate in previous years. The most important of… Read more »
MLR Water Connects Us All Conference
On May 17th, over 100 of the lake leaders from across Minnesota gathered at the Saint Anthony Falls Lab to see some of the latest science on zaqwuatic invas9ve species, algae blooms, shoreline ecology and wake and prop thrust impacts. They also had a chance to connect with eachother, share information and efforts, and build… Read more »
MLR Pursues Long Term Strategy to Address Wake Surfing Impacts
The Problem Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates (MLR) received the first email from a member regarding the impacts of wake surfing in 2019. By the summer of 2020 more members were telling us the large, powerful wakes generated by wake surfing boats were eroding shorelines, knocking people from pontoon or fishing boats, swamping canoes, kayaks… Read more »
Civic Organizing is a Water Quality Best Practice
By Jeff Forester, Executive Director of Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Lake and river associations and their members are the unsung heroes of water resource protection in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Lake association volunteers statewide spend over 1.2 million hours working at boat ramps as Aquatic Invasive Species, AIS ambassadors and inspectors, monitoring water quality,… Read more »
MLR’s Stop Starry & AIS Efforts to expand in 2024 & 2025
In late August of 2015 the invasive algae, Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa) was confirmed in Lake Koronis at the Highway 55 public boat access. It was the first time that this Aquatic Invasive Species was confirmed in Minnesota. Starry stonewort is a stringy algae that can grow from two to twenty-five feet deep, can overwhelm… Read more »
2024 Legislative Preview – Finish the Work We Started in 2023
The 2024 Legislative Session will be short this year, starting February 12th and ending May 20th, a little over three months. Last year the Minnesota Legislature focused on our Biennial Budget. In 2024 legislators will be more focused on policy proposals. MLR and our partners had a very productive session last year. Passing policy is… Read more »
How Grass Roots Advocates Built a Statewide Movement to Protect Lakes – A Case Study of the Keep It Clean Effort
by Robyn Dwight, Upper Red lake Association Up at Lake of the Woods, straddling the Minnesota-Canadian border, concerned local residents have spent over a decade looking for sustainable solutions to a human waste problem that occurs every winter because of leftovers of human activity. More recently, advocates from Upper Red Lake and Mille Lacs Lake… Read more »
Big Pine Lake, goes “All In” – Pilots New Lake Association Membership Structure
by Tom Hubbnard, President, Big Pine Lake Property Owners Association After several years of working with Jeff Forester at MLR, and seeing the amazing work his group has undertaken, the Big Pine Lake Property Owners Association (BPLPOA) board decided to modestly increase their annual contribution level and buy a membership for 100 of our members.… Read more »