Your Friends, Family, and Neighbors will Thank You! Starry stonewort and other Aquatic Invasive Species disrupt lake and river activities once they are introduced to the ecosystem. By cleaning your boat after each use in an infected lake or river, you are protecting your community members that appreciate other nearby lakes from having to manage… Read more »
The 2021 Minnesota Lakes and Rivers “Water Connects Us All™” Annual Meeting was held December 1st, 2021 via online technology. Executive Director Jeff Forester gave a detailed report on our accomplishments together over the last year, including millions of dollars in funding for AIS research, Stop Starry efforts, and lake association plant management grants. In… 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 »
Jeff Forester, Executive Director of MN Lakes and Rivers Advocates welcomed about 75 Lake Association leaders to the virtual meeting. His opening presentation focused on a Civic based strategy to vertically integrate lake and river advocacy in MN. Lake and rivers are a key resource for local communities, providing quality of life, property tax base,… 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 »
MLR, in partnership with Fish and Waters Conservation Fund, Association of Cass County Lakes, Happy Dancing Turtle and Pine River Watershed Alliance has launched this as a pilot in Cass County. “Up the Creek Meats” simply connects lake associations directly with farmers who produce food in a way that protects water. Said Jeff Forester, “What happens away from the lake, up in… Read more »
Guest Blog by Dr. Lorin Hatch, Widseth One definition of a weed I’ve heard is that it is a plant out of place, which is really a human judgement. For example, some people like dandelions on their lawns, some don’t. Let’s turn that idea to the lakeshore, specifically the rooted plants that grow in the water.… 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 »