The Sherburne Soil and Water Conservation District has named the Briggs Lake Chain Association as the 2014 Outstanding Conservation Cooperator, according to SWCD Water Resources Specialist Tiffany Determan. The award was presented to BLCA President Dan Merchant at the regular BLCA monthly meeting last Saturday morning at the Palmer Town Hall.
Taking part in the presentation with Determan were SWCD board members Jason Selvog and Larry Goenner and SWCD District Mgr. Francine Larson.
Determan said the BLCA is the “most proactive and hard-working lake association in the county,” and that the work of the SWCD and other agencies would be “impossible without active community leaders pushing for conservation.”
The BLCA was recognized for a series of accomplishments, Determan said, including the installation of 40 shoreline buffers, hosting shoreline restoration and storm water management workshops, partnering with Sherburne County in the 2011 aerial lakeshore analysis/groundwater intrusion over-flight survey project, assisting landowners with storm water issues, monitoring water quality in several key projects and keeping the county aware of water quality issues.
BLCA’s 2014 accomplishments included a successful application for a Clean Water Fund Grant for storm water reduction obtained in partnership with the SWCD and a grant from the MnDNR to continue the shoreline buffer cost-share program. Determan also cited the on-going effort by the BLCA to create a lake Improvement District (LID) to fund projects focused on control of aquatic invasive species like Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM), fluctuating water levels and water quality programs.
BLCA representatives attending the award presentation included: Jack McKelvey, Scott Ruiter, Francis Beaudry, Kenzie Phelps, John Schnell, Wayne Smith, Barb Aaberg, Jolene Henning, Jane Curtis, Adele Munsterman, Karen Nielsen and Barb Kydd.
The BLCA will also be recognized during the annual Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in December, Determan said.
