MILFOIL & LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATE 

 Thanks to all of you for your generous donations.  Please keep the donations coming as we can never have enough money in this war against the milfoil and we are just getting started.

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 Thanks to all of you for your generous donations.  Please keep the donations coming as we can never have enough money in this war against the milfoil and we are just getting started. 〰️

First of all a big thank you to all of you for your generous Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) donations. Please keep them coming as we can never have enough money in this war against the milfoil and we are just getting started. This will be an ongoing process.

The Plan that Was

Our plan was to treat and eradicate as much of the milfoil as possible this coming summer. However, due to a mandate by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the time it will take to get the steps involved accomplished we will not be able to treat the milfoil in 2022. 

The WDNR Mandate:

  1. PLPOA must submit and get approval for changes to the Lake Management Plan (LMP).

  2. PLPOA must submit a Chemical Treatment Permit request to WDNR.

There may be only 2 items listed above but there are many steps involved to comply with the mandate. Therefore a committee has been formed to  specifically address this.

The Committee

The people who are generously giving their time and energy to this task are: 

  • Fred Koch (Team Leader)

  • Ginnie Detloff

  • Chris Hedstrom

  • Sarah Kirchhoff

  • Ted & Sue Van Dyke

They will address the following:

  1. revise the LMP

  2. get a permit for chemical treatment

  3. apply for a grant to pay for the writing of the revised LMP

  4. apply for a grant to help pay for the chemical treatment of the lake

The Plan

For item 1: Lake Management Plan

  • Devise a survey intended for property owners and others concerned about Pine lake. This will help us understand the views of Pine lake stakeholders.

  • Get WDNR approval for the content of the survey and distribute.

  • Edit the LMP based upon survey results.

  • Submit the revised LMP to the WDNR and receive the approval for the document.

For item 2: Requirements for Chemical Treatment Permit

  • Submit the revised lake treatment plan (Item 1 above) 

  • Conduct a new lake point survey during the year in which treatment is being requested.

  • Perform pre-treatment survey of the lake. 

  • Submit the permit request to DNR to chemically treat the lake.

Upon completion of the above we hope to finally receive the permit and be allowed to treat the lake. 

After treatment we will need to:

  • Perform a post-treatment survey within 72 hours to determine efficacy of treatment and ascertain if any native plants were killed during treatment.

  • Collect water samples after treatment to determine the concentration of the chemicals in treated and non-treated areas.

What has been accomplished so far:

The committee has engaged Wisconsin Lake and Pond Resource (WL&PR) to help our committee get everything accomplished that is mandated by the WDNR.

Chris Hedstrom has already applied for and received approval for our association to apply for both grants. She will apply for the grants as soon as the revised LMP has been approved. 

The survey has been approved and submitted to Pine lake stakeholders via USPS postcard, email, facebook and web site www.pinelakeproperty.org. 

The Survey

If you haven’t already taken the survey please do so now. Open a browser window and go to https://tinyurl.com/Pine-Lake-Survey on or before May 31, 2022. 

If you have any questions relative to this overall process or if you do not have internet access and would prefer a hard copy of the survey, please call James Scharl at (920) 872-2032.

Why should I take the Survey?

It is very important that you complete the questionnaire as this will guide the plan update. It’s critical that we get as many surveys returned as possible showing support to chemically treat the milfoil. 

If only 10 people respond and two are against treating, 20% of the people surveyed will be against treating.

If 100 people respond and two are against treating, then 2% of the people surveyed will be against treating.

Everyone in your household over 18 years of age is eligible to complete this anonymous survey. 

This survey will be the public opinion for or against chemical treatment when we present our revised LMP to the DNR.  The survey information must support the changes we would like to make AND include our collective consent to chemically treat the milfoil.