CLP and Pike Lake Status
As reported in the recent letter “Rice/Pike Lake Curly Leaf Pond Weed Pull” from the Iron County Lakes and Rivers Alliance (ICLRA), there has been substantial work this summer to control Curly Leaf Pondweed in Rice Lake, Pike Lake, and the Turtle River.
This post focuses on Pike Lake-specific progress, status, and plans.
Surveys
With a DNR grant through the Rice Lake Association, White Water Associates (WWA) was hired to perform a series of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) surveys during the 3-year grant period for the summers of 2020, 2021, and 2022. These surveys cover Pike Lake, the upstream river, and the southern bay of Rice Lake. And, as part of this project the Iron County Land and Lakes Conservation Department performed a woody habitat survey of Pike Lake during which they also looked for CLP.
CLP in Pike Lake
The surveys performed in Early June discovered 2 previously unknown sites with CLP colonies. These plants were removed by volunteers. The follow-up surveys in Late June discovered some regrowth in those two sites, plus 3 additional sites. These plants were also fully pulled by WWA and Pike Lake volunteers. These sites were found in surprising locations near the south part of the lake, and would not have been discovered without the professional surveys. The original sites found and pulled in 2019 near the inlet at Ruggers Landing apparently have not yet grown back.
Going forward, we on Pike Lake need to monitor and totally kill these known sites, and also search out and record all unknown sites. In the mid-summer some may become more apparent as they grow over the surface and die off.
CLP in the Turtle River
There were many sites found and pulled by Iron County (Zach Wilson) in 2019, and this was quite successful. Far fewer, but still a substantial number of sites were found by WWA in early June, and these were pulled by volunteer teams led by Iron County. The follow-up survey by WWA in late June identified the sites that grew up, and those below the Arrowhead bridge were very well cleared out by a small volunteer team in early July. However, sites remain in the river upstream of the bridge and upstream of the Rice Lake dam, as we did not have enough volunteer effort to address them in July.
We are optimistic that with sustained volunteer work every year, we can keep the Turtle River clean. The river is shallow and clear enough to be able to spot most plants and identify them accurately, and patches are not too extensive, dense or mature, so that they can be pulled by hand, like weeding a garden. In contrast, Rice Lake proper has large dense patches which seems more like harvesting a hay field.
Working the river in early July was really a lot of fun, wading in the cool water on a hot day, with plenty of shade, spotting some pretty large fish, minnows, mussels, native plants. To play in the water with a real purpose was really worthwhile, and not at all strenuous.
Pike Lake and the DNR Grant accounting status
Accounting for the first reimbursement of the grant is underway, and final approved numbers are not finished yet. However,
The DNR grant is a $20000 max, 3-year project with a 25% match of volunteer work or contributions. So far, $7500 for WWA, plus a few hundred for supplies has been spent. Other labor and supplies have been donated by volunteers and are applied against the match. Iron County fully contributed their manpower and equipment to the project, which actually covers almost all of the 25% match for the money spent so far. There are significant other volunteer contributions as well.
So far, so good, but in future years, significantly more labor contributions from Pike Lake volunteers will be required. Unfortunately, several people who hoped they could volunteer this year had other commitments, and many who attended training sessions have not yet submitted their volunteer labor worksheets.