Welcome to 2023, Pike Lake Neighbors
Pike Lake Neighbors Inc is entering its third year as a Qualified Wisconsin Lake Association, “to preserve and protect Pike Lake and adjoining portions of the Turtle River in Iron County Wisconsin from undesirable invasive species, and to protect and enhance the environment, ecology, water quality, and fishery of Pike Lake.”
2022 Summary
The DNR Early Response Grant for the three-year Pike Lake Curly Leaf Pondweed (CLP) project is complete. $20,000 from the DNR for professional work, $16,000 of in-kind contributions of labor and equipment from Iron County, Pike Lake Neighbors Inc, and individuals, including 500+ documented volunteer hours.
Rice Lake remains full of CLP. The Rice Lake Association with our participation is considering and planning for options beyond labor intensive hand pulling. Our hand-pulling efforts have made an impact on the CLP in the Turtle River between Rice Lake and Pike Lake, especially in the lower sections. However, the CLP in the river remains a major concern and there will be increased work on the river this year. The known patches of CLP in Pike Lake are being controlled for the most part but require continued intensive attention. Several patches of CLP have been newly discovered downstream of Pike Lake in the Turtle River on the way to Lake of the Falls. These will need to be attacked aggressively in 2023.
See the survey results, maps, and activity reports on the website. https://pikelakeneighbors.org/ais-control-project
2023 Plans
With the completion of the DNR-funded project, we are in a transition period which requires more planning, new initiatives, and focused effort locally and more widely.
We intend to write a planning document to outline our responsibilities, goals, and actions at Pike Lake for the next few years.
We need to ramp up our volunteer work crews with more people, more work crew trips, and better execution.
We encourage the establishment of a watershed-wide cooperation project to address the growing aquatic invasive species threat holistically and cooperatively.
Membership
2023 Dues of $50 per person for 2023 are now payable via credit card/PayPal or by check to our treasurer. See https://pikelakeneighbors.org/members
If you are not a current member, why not? Please assist our efforts by joining Pike Lake Neighbors, Inc. with your dues payment, or even more importantly, by volunteering time on the water to help us control CLP. Younger people would be especially welcome. Most of the active members are older and retired. This is not physically demanding work, and it’s nice to be out in nature with the water and sunshine.
At the 2023 Members Meeting on Sept 3, 2023, Labor Day Sunday, we will hold elections for 2-year terms for all officers and board members. Your 2023 dues must be paid up to vote. There is currently one open board-of-directors position, and there may be more before the meeting. Please consider joining our board and/or participating in other planning and work activities.