For 23 years, Clear Lake resident Bob Iten has been a volunteer for the DNR (Department of Natural Resources), monitoring the lake levels on Lake Long in Sherburne County. He has no plans of retiring.

 

Long Lake is part of a landlocked lake system, which makes it important for its levels to be monitored. Iten has lived on Long Lake himself for 44 years, during which time its levels have fluctuated over 13 feet.

 

Iten says he’s always been an observer, which makes his volunteer position a perfect match. Along with this, accurate data is also important to him.

 

“I question a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t take anything for granted.”

 

Even before he began working with the DNR, he was concerned with water quality and the environment.

 

Around 1990 Iten and a group of like-minded individuals formed the Tri-Lakes Association, which includes Long Lake, Pickerel Lake and Round Lake, because people were pushing Haven Township to create a public access on the right of way it owned on Long Lake. 

 

They fought against the access because Long Lake was the closest body of water for three marine dealerships. Long Lake is a shallow lake, and they were concerned about potential impacts if the dealerships began using it as a demo site.

 

“Everybody has a different reason for living on a lake, and within reason should be able to do what they want,” said Iten. “But you have to look out for the lake and what goes on around it. There needs to be common sense.”

 

Iten was also on the board of directors for the Minnesota Lakes Association for a time, and was one of the founders of the Shoreline Volunteer Program. During this period he began going to other lake associations to speak, show videos and answer questions.

 

In 1993 he heard the DNR was looking for a lake level monitor and decided to volunteer. Long Lake is one of the 850 Minnesota lakes that have their levels monitored.

 

Using the level gauge he sets out every spring, Iten monitors the levels on Long Lake, and meets with the area hydrologist every couple months to discuss his findings.

 

“It’s always fun to observe how different species of fish will increase one year and decrease the next,” Iten said. “You start to look at what the reasoning is behind it. Lake levels are part of it.”

 

“I really think it’s great what he does,” said Iten’s wife, Nan. “It’s important and something that needs to be done.”

 

Along with volunteering for the DNR, Iten is a partner in Carnelian Supply and marshals at the Ojibwa Forests Rally in Detroit Lakes every year. He loves woodworking, makes Ojibwa dream catchers, birdhouses and maple syrup.

 

This past spring he purchased 475 American Hazelnut trees from the DNR, and along with local scout troops planted them at Island View Park. 

 

Iten is also an advocate of native plant species, and over 20 years ago began restoring the native plants on his lakeshore property. Today he says the difference is amazing as it’s not only beneficial for the lake, but also for area wildlife, which has flourished in his backyard.

 

Iten’s hard work was featured on the DNR’s “Meet Our Volunteers” web page this summer, which can be found at www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteering/meet.html. 

 

Begun in 1970, the MN DNR Lake Level Monitoring Program currently manages a network of over 1000 temporary and permanent lake level gauges as indicators for measuring and determining the water surface level of selected lakes.  The program relies on a network of over 800 volunteer monitors and local government partners, who record and submit lake level gauge readings on a regular basis.

 

Information received from the volunteers is uploaded weekly onto the DNR LakeFinder web site, which can be found at www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html. In addition to fisheries and water access information, the LakeFinder site is the best means for the public to access water level data of the DNR lake level gauges. Besides summary information and a 10-year graph, users can download reported historical and current lake elevations for gauged lakes.