Manitowish Waters Lakes Association

SUMMER IS HERE!

"Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land. " - Luna Leopold

"All things are connected, like the blood that runs in your family . . . The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father." - Suquamish Chief Sealth

PLAN AHEAD - MAKE SURE THE MWLA ANNUAL MEETING PICNIC/PARTY IS MARKED ON YOUR SUMMER CALENDAR

The MWLA Annual Meeting Picnic/Party is scheduled for Saturday, July 23, 2011 from 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. in the pavilion at the MW Community Center. Sign-in begins at 3:30 with a short business portion of the meeting beginning promptly at 4:00. A presentation by North Lakeland students will be followed by a picnic/party with free brats, burgers, beer and wine.

There will be door prizes and a table full of fantastic raffle items. Don’t forget to bring your address labels to put on your raffle tickets. Your membership in the MWLA covers you and your immediate family. If you bring guests, they can take out a membership or make a donation right at the picnic to join the fun.

JULY 4^TH  CELEBRATION

Please bring family and friends to visit the MWLA booth and free trout pond (for children 10 years and younger) during the July 4^th activities at the Community Center. The MWLA sponsors the Pete Rasey Whimsy Award that is awarded to the most whimsical float in the parade. The prize is a $25 plus MWLA hat and shirt.

MWLA, DISCOVERY CENTER, AND TOWN LEAP INTO 2011 AIS EFFORTS  by Anne Kretschmann

The North Lakeland Discovery Center is very excited to be partnering with the MWLA and the Town of Manitowish Waters to combat the threat of aquatic invasive species (AIS) in the area. TAISP (The Town AIS Partnership) will be extremely active this summer, so look for us around town! We’d like to thank the Town for the $10,000 that they allocated for our AIS work.

My name is Anne Kretschmann, and I’m the new Water Education and Aquatic Invasive Species Intern at the Discovery Center. I’ll be co-coordinating aquatic invasive species efforts in the Manitowish Waters area with Zach Wilson, Discovery Center Senior Naturalist. If you need any additional information on our AIS efforts, I can be reached at: anne@discoverycenter.net or 715- 543-2085.

This summer we are expanding our lake monitoring program. We are currently soliciting for ‘lake captains and deck hands’ who will work with other volunteers to monitor their lake’s shorelines and weedy areas. If you are interested please contact me or sign up online at www.discoverycenter.net. PLEASE VOLUNTEER!

We want to encourage all of you to be on the lookout for ‘The BIG Three’ aquatic invasive species that we are most worried about invading the Chain. We are trying to map where invasive species are found in the area so that we can target control and monitoring activities around these locations. The ‘Big Three’ are curly leaf pondweed, purple loosestrife, and Eurasian water milfoil.    We are interested in knowing the locations of any other potential aquatic invasive species as well. The Discovery Center is always willing to help you identify any potential aquatic invasive species that you may find in your lake and stream travels in the area. Simply put a sample of the species in a plastic baggie, write down the location where you found it, and bring it in to the Discovery Center. If you stop by the Center we will provide you with baggies and a small card printed with instructions and a map that you can X off where you found the species.

Additionally, we are looking for purple loosestrife patches to place beetles at in July! If you would like to hear more about our purple loosestrife beetle rearing program the Discovery Center is hosting a workshop on June 24 where you can get ‘up close and personal’ with these little good guys! If you are interested in getting some beetles for a July release on purple loosestrife on your property we can sign you up! 

If you would like to receive “AIS Alerts” via email regarding new locations and findings of aquatic invasive species, as well as AIS activities that are occurring in the area, please contact me to be added to my “AIS Alert” list. You can also visit the MWLA web site for current AIS information at www.mwlakes.com.

Throughout the summer, the Discovery Center will also conduct educational AIS programs for kids and adults, conduct an assessment of our Clean Boats, Clean Waters’ boat landing monitoring program, host an ol’ fashioned crayfish boil, and will be placing WDNR approved AIS signage at Town boat landings.

BAER REQUESTS RE-ZONING

A stay order was issued in April by Vilas County Judge Neal Nielson temporarily preventing Tom Baer from expanding his existing cranberry farm across Pine Lane and building a new one between Twin Pines Lane, Deer Park Road and Bluebird Point Road. Background history regarding Baer’s suit against the Town is available in our April Newsletter posted on our web site.

Mr. Baer has recently filed four petitions: one petition to amend the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and three petitions to rezone. A legal notice has been posted announcing a Manitowish Waters Plan Commission Hearing to be held on June 21, 2011 at 6:00 P.M. at the Manitowish Waters Community Building. A Workshop is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. with a Public Hearing immediately following.

The purpose of the public hearing is to receive citizen input on the following: 1.) amend the CLUP for property of approximately  15 acres located south of Pine Lane and running along South Townline Rd. from Single Family to Agriculture; 2.) re-zone same property from Single Family to Agriculture; 3.) re-zone property that is approximately 100 acres located on red Feather and Fawn Lakes Roads from Agriculture to Forestry; and 4.) re-zone property that is approximately  20 acres and runs along Hwy 51 from Multi-Family to General Business. We understand that if his rezoning requests are denied, he will then clear-cut the property on Red Feather and Fawn Lake Roads for the purpose of planting cranberry beds.

Concerned local property owners opposed to the farms have formed a group called the Northwoods Property Rights Coalition. The group cites as potential negatives: noise, increased traffic on residential streets, clear-cutting of forested land, fertilizer/pesticide pollution being discharged into Manitowish Lake, fertilizer/pesticide polluted ground water leaching into nearby wells, adverse effects on property values, and water being drawn from the already stressed Manitowish Chain of Lakes for commercial purposes. For more information, or to join the Northwoods Property Rights Coalition, contact: Bob Richards at info@northwoodsprc.com.

The MWLA will continue to report on developments as appropriate in future newsletters and email alerts.

WDNR WATER GUARD DEPUTY CONSERVATION WARDEN – from Ted Ritter, Vilas County Invasive Species Coordinator

John Preuss, our WDNR Water Guard Deputy Conservation Warden, has been on duty since May. Anyone wishing to notify John of a violation or a problem at a boat landing, or any other issue relating to enforcement of AIS laws in the Vilas County area, can reach him at: John.Preuss@wisconsin.gov or (715) 889-0593.

Please remember that as one of just nine state-wide Water Guards, John’s jurisdiction covers eight Northern Region counties, so be realistic with expectations when trying to contact him. John has reported that in the months of May and June he has given out several citations and a number of warnings for such violations as having aquatic plants attached to trailers and fishermen trying to lake-hop with water and live bait in their live well.  

MWLA FISH CRIB PROJECT

If you haven’t already done so, please go to www.mwlakes.com and click on 2011 Fish Crib Project to view a photo diary of the project. Maps of Rest and Spider Lakes have been included showing where the cribs are located. We hope to put more cribs in the Chain next winter and add some fish spawning structures near shorelines. We need to raise $2500 for this project, so look for the miniature fish crib donation containers placed in area businesses and please consider making a contribution to this great project. You can also mail donations to the Manitowish Waters Lakes Association, Inc. P.O. Box 286, Manitowish Waters, WI 54545. 

NEWS FROM THE DNR

REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR LARGER PIERS IS EXTENDED - from Weekly News Article Published: June 1, 2011 by the WDNR

Waterfront property owners now have another year in which to complete a free, one-time registration if they have a larger pier that exceeds size standards set in 2004. The registration deadline has been extended to April 1, 2012, under a bill passed by the Legislature and signed May 27 by Gov. Scott Walker.

The vast majority of piers statewide do not need to be registered because they already fit the size standards that lawmakers established for piers to be exempt from state permitting processes, according to Martye Griffin, who coordinates the pier registration program for the Department of Natural Resources.

Exempt piers: are a maximum of 6 feet wide but can have a loading platform area up to 8 feet wide located on the water-ward end of the pier; don't interfere with neighbors or public boating and fishing; and have no more than two boat slips for the first 50 feet of shoreline frontage owned and an additional boat slip for every full 50 feet owned thereafter.

Lawmakers created the free, one-time registration process for piers that were first placed in the water before Feb. 6, 2004, to grandfather in most of the larger existing piers that exceeded the size standards. Having the pier registered protects property owners if neighbors or others complain about the pier's size in future years, allows DNR and local governments to know the larger pier is legal, and is helpful if there is an eventual property ownership transfer, Griffin says.

Now waterfront property owners have another season to learn if their pier qualifies to be grandfathered through registration, and to complete the process if it does. Only piers first placed in the water before February 2004 qualify for registration if they meet specific size criteria.

A very small number of large piers will not qualify to register but can be downsized by their owners to a size that qualifies for registration or must go through the individual permitting processes with no fee, Griffin says.

A downloadable registration form and other materials to complete the registration process are available on the pier registration page of the DNR website http://dnr.wi.gov/waterways/recreation/piers_registration.html.

For more information contact: Martye Griffin (608) 266-2997-2997.The Vilas County Association of Lakes (VCLA) also has a web site with helpful information. http://www.vcla.us/home/wisconsin-pier-regulations

SURVEY GIVES WISCONSIN BATS A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH  - from a WDNR Weekly News Article Published: May 3, 2011 

A recently completed statewide survey of known bat wintering sites in Wisconsin showed no sign of white-nose syndrome, a fungus that kills bats by invading their skin and depleting their energy reserves during winter hibernation. The invasive fungus currently exists in 18 states and four Canadian provinces and has been linked to the death of more than one million bats since 2007. White-nose syndrome (WNS; scientific name Geomyces destructans) has been confirmed within 190 miles of Wisconsin, well within the dispersal range of Wisconsin’s most common bat species, the little brown bat. “It is a relief to not find any signs of the disease in Wisconsin this winter, but it is likely only a matter of time before it does appear,” said David Redell, a bat ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources. “Since it is a near certainty WNS will show up, possibly as soon as next winter, we are moving rapidly to survey our known bat colonies, seek out and document new colonies and develop plans aimed at minimizing the spread and effects of white-nose syndrome in Wisconsin.”  To read the article in its entirety go to http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=1759. For information on bat monitoring in our area contact licia@discoverycenter.net or call her at (715)-543-2085.

WISCONSIN LAKES NEWS ALERT – June 3, 2011:

The Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature did the right thing and voted to remove the provision from the budget bill that would have suspended the phosphorus effluent standards that went into effect last December.
The vote passed 10-6. Wisconsin Lakes made removal of the phosphorus rules suspension the top priority for the budget. Thanks to all of you who wrote, called, e-mailed and contacted the legislators on the committee. Your contacts helped make this vote a reality.

REST LAKE DAM

The Manitowish Chain Defense Fund (MCDF) continues to await word from the WDNR regarding the results of the Environmental Assessment.

WHITE ARROW SIGNS

The Application and Agreement for White Arrow Directional Signs is now available at the Town Clerk’s Office and the True Value Hardware Store in Manitowish Waters.

TROUT RIVER CULVERT

The Trout River culvert project is completed. It is now 11’ 6” wide with approximately 6’ of vertical clearance when the water is up.

WE WELCOME YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Thank you for your membership in the Manitowish Waters Lakes association. Your membership allows us to continue to work on our mission which is to ‘maintain, protect and enhance the quality of the Manitowish Waters Chain of Lakes and other township Waters’.

Please fill out the enclosed membership renewal form and return it with your check for $25. We strongly encourage you to provide your email address on the membership renewal form so that you can receive our e-Newsletter and email alerts. Your email address will not be seen by or shared with others.

We would eventually like to save on paper and postage costs by mailing out fewer hard copies of the newsletter. Please indicate your choice about how you would prefer to receive the MWLA Newsletter and how you may be willing to volunteer your time and efforts to MWLA activities and projects this summer.

Remember to check our website for recently posted information such as board meeting minutes, pertinent articles, and our Newsletters.

Note: To save on cost, we will no longer be sending “thank you” post cards to members who have renewed.

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Karen Dixon, Pres. Manitowish River 715-543-8141          

Tom Joseph, VP Rest Lake 715-543-8362           

Eleanor Butler, Treas. Alder Lake 715-543-8401