Members of the Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force (AIS) met Tuesday afternoon at the Sherburne History Center to discuss a variety of proposals to increase public awareness and participation in the fight to control invasive species migration into area lakes, particularly the Eurasian water milfoil and zebra mussels that are a growing problem.

 

The meeting was chaired by SWCD Water Resources Specialist Tiffany Determan, who presented a long list of categories for discussion centered on public awareness and educational programs.  Most popular with the 20 attendees was the discussion of new signs that could be posted at the 27 boat landing sites around the county.  

 

Determan said she had discussed   collaboration with the MnDNR, who had advised that only “positive” message signs are effective in spreading the message to boaters and lake users.  Task force member Paul Perovich of Big Lake said the program should retain a local focus because residents “want to take ownership of their own lakes” in this process.

 

Other discussion items included media targeted messages, possibly including TV and radio public service announcements, internet video and a “geo fencing” web crawler offered by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  Cost was the primary problem with all of these options, members commented, as radio and TV ads could run more than $10,000 and the Star-Tribune program had an estimated cost of between $2,500 and $5,000, according to the documents presented.

 

Other options discussed included an “ambassadors” program with volunteer lake inspectors trained by the MnDNR, and the hiring of an AIS educator to train monitors, county staff, lake association members, marine supply show owners and bait dealers.  Some members favored an increased law enforcement presence, while others said that volunteer program have worked on lakes in the metro area, and have helped to reduce the level of confrontation with lake users by removing the threat of a citation in the equation. Issues of draining bilges before trailering boats, spray washing trailers before going to other lakes and dumping live wells and bait have been on-going problems.

 

Promotional materials such as stickers that can be attached to bait buckets, docks and other marine-related products that carry a message such as “Join Sherburne County in the fight against Aquatic Invaders” were also generally held to be a good idea.  Other options that met with various degrees of enthusiasm included a K-12 education program featuring a group such as the CLIMB Theatre in St. Paul, which presents environmentally-themed plays to school audiences, a direct mailing program and use of social media such as Facebook, e-newsletters and various other internet outlets.

 

The group also discussed the creation of an Early Detection/Rapid Response (ED/RR) plan based on the guidelines from the 2008-2012 national Invasive Species management Plan, volunteer monitor programs to chart the spread of milfoil and zebra mussels and investigation of potential treatments in area lakes.

 

Special project included possible coalitions formed between lake associations, partnerships for lake decontamination programs, grants and stormwater management and grant applications to increase enforcement time by the MnDNR at area boat landings and funding for future innovative projects.

 

The inspection and enforcement discussion included MnDNR training for sheriff’s deputies, training and hiring inspectors with access denial authority on area lakes and applications for MnDNR inspectors on area lakes.  In 2015, Big Lake will have inspectors for 430 hours, and Eagle Lake will have them for 55 hours, Determan said.  Applications must be made every year.

 

Taking part in the Tuesday meeting were:  Gordy Westerlund, Big Eagle Lake Assn.; Steve Demeules, Palmer Tsp. Supervisor; Scott Maricle, sporting goods shop owner; John Barr, Water Plan Committee (WPC); John Riebel, Sherburne County Commissioner; C. Perry Schenk, WPC; Barbara Tucker, WPC; Clint Jordahl,  WPC; Richard Dahlman, WPC; Terrance Vander Eyk, WPC; Nancy Riddle, Sherburne County Zoning/WPC; David Katzner, Sherburne County Zoning/WPC; Joe Schanen, Sherburne County Sheriff’s Dept./WPC; Chris Jurek, MnDNR; Brad Johnson, Big Lake Improvement Assin.; Paul Perovich, Bass Federated; Francine Larson, Sherburne SWCD District manager; Frances Gerde, Sherburne SWCD District Aide and Mike Lindenau, Sherburne County Ditch Inspector.