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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAquatic Invasive Species Committee - Minutes - 2/28/2018 Bayfield County Aquatic Invasive Species Committee MINUTES February 28, 2018 Present: Nan Olson, Jim Krueger, Jeremy Oswald, Sally Pease, William Bussey Staff: Andrew Teal, AIS Coordinator; Absent: Sarah Boles Attendance: Ellen Lafans-Bayfield County Lakes Forum Director; Reed Saam-Biological Technician/Treaty Natural Resources/Red Cliff; Melissa Kraft-LWCD Assistant; Ramona Shackleford-NCWMA Coordinator 1. Call to Order: Nan called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. 2. Introductions: Brief introductions were conducted. Bill Bussey announced he is retiring from the Bayfield County Board and his service ends mid-April and new committee assignments will be made. 3. Public Comment: Ellen Lafans reported that she gave a presentation before the Bayfield County Zoning and Planning Committee on February 15, 2018, regarding the Bayfield Co. Flood and Erosion Hazard Prevention Working Group. The group formed to help develop recommendations for the Bayfield Co Planning and Zoning Committee to consider regarding flooding and erosion prevention standards adopted by other Wisconsin counties to reduce property damage and safety risks arising from major storms. Tim Kane recently retired as the UW-Extension Community Development Educator for Bayfield County. His position has not been filled to date as applications are being accepted until March 1st, 2018. 4. Motion: Approve minutes from November 29th, 2017 - AIS Committee meeting. Pease/Krueger – carried. 5. Grant Updates: Andy reported he applied for and received Clean Boats Clean Waters (CBCW) grants for CBCW- Protecting Iron River Lakes totaling $20,000 (advanced payment of $5000 was recently received) and CBCW-Lake Superior totaling $16,000 (advanced payment of $4000 was recently received) for 2018. The 2017 CBCW grant final reimbursements were filed and reimbursements have been received in full and processed. Partial reimbursement for DNR AIS Grant #5 was submitted and reimbursement is pending DNR approval. 2017 and 2018 budget spreadsheet handout of expenses discussed. NCWMA Boat Washer grant (Mod 006) was applied for and received in the amount of $14,864.22 through the U.S. Forest Service. Funds the boat wash unit itself and one person to run it, coordinator time to schedule it and boat maintenance. Bayfield County policy states that 2 people must go along to operate the boat washer-one guides the other in backing up and moving it around, and to assist if injuries occur. Ramona reported a NCWMA grant was applied for and she should be hearing back about that grant soon and will keep the committee updated. Garlic Mustard grant funds from DNR have arrived, and cover that plant specifically, in addition to rent. 6. Discussion/Update: Andy attended the 2018 Zebra Mussel Workshop in Spooner. Around thirty people attended. Met to discuss the discovery of adult zebra mussels on Upper and Middle McKenzie Lakes. Wisconsin Lakes and DNR reported that a property owner on Big McKenzie Lake found zebra mussels attached to his pier. Additional mussels were later found at a water intake and attached to a boat lift. According to DNR, it is the first inland zebra mussel population verified in northwest Wisconsin. The DNR has already committed a $20,000 early detection and response grant to the McKenzie Lake Association. Zebra mussels are an invasive species likely introduced via a ballast water exchange of an ocean-going ship to the Great Lakes from Europe in the mid-1980s. The good news is that fewer that 5 percent of lakes deemed suitable for colonization have zebra mussels but the findings reinforces the need for boaters to stop the spread of invasive species by cleaning their boats off and K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2018\02-28-18 AIS Minutes.docx draining water before leaving the boat landing. Reed noted they were found in the Apostle Islands on the shipwrecks, specifically the Sevona. Scientists from federal agencies are collecting samples and studying genetics to determine their origin. Andy noted researchers had discussed the possibility of using Zequanox, a bacterial- based pesticide, but as a rule it cannot be used to treat more than 50% of the water volume of a lake. Discussed how they tried to control them in a lab with for example potash which is a potassium chloride and have had some positive results. They are finding possible controls in some lakes. Ideas were shared on how to reach out to the public. A big problem found was that wakeboard ballast bags carry a lot more risk of introduction to other lakes when lake hopping. In conclusion, introduction seems to come from local lake hopping. 7. Discussion: Boat Wash Unit Survey/Questionnaire-refer to Vilas County program- Andy was contacted by Vilas Co AIS Coordinator to discuss whether or not to create a more extensive survey for boat washer stations or to continue to use the CBCW survey that only asks where a person came from not what other lakes they may be traveling to as well. Bussey recommended if Vilas comes up with one we can look at it and possibly revise ours to include more questions. It was noted that Vilas Co. received a grant under $10,000 to cover one person to operate one boat washer. Stations can consist of a brush, broom, and a bucket (low maintenance, low budget) all the way up to permanent power washing installations. 8. Discussion: Lake Namakagon and Eau Claire Chain of Lakes-St. Croix River Association zebra mussel veliger tows? Andy received a call from the Invasive Species Coordinator of the St. Croix River Association asking about possible monitoring in the upper watershed and asked if any Bayfield Co lakes would be a good choice for sample collection. Andy nominated Lake Namakagon and Eau Claire Chain of Lakes. Looking for veligers (juvenile zebra mussels). A net would be set in the lake to capture veligers which would then be taken to a lab for research, specifically for counting. Sally and Jim’s contact information will be provided to the coordinator. 9. AIS Coordinator’s Report: Andy shared some of the recent activities. Attended two meetings with stakeholders regarding the Lake Namakagon Aquatic Plant Management Plan and shared ideas on how to manage invasive hybrid watermilfoil. Attended Zebra Mussel Strategy workshop in Spooner which focused on disinfecting boats and equipment, research into zebra mussel mortality in live wells and ballast bags given certain conditions, and partnership efforts across the Northwestern part of WI. Andy set up a table at Northland College to recruit applicants for our CBCW program (the Northland College Job Fair was cancelled this year). Talked to 16 and 5 or 6 took job applications. Ramona will be setting up a table soon for recruiting interns as well. Collaborated with Susan Nelson at US Forest Service to plan and create Invasive Species ID Days and the Student Science Research Symposium and discussed expanding funding sources. Attended statewide AIS Coordinator meeting at UW-Stevens Point. (Andy Teal’s staff report was reviewed and is on file.) 10. Partner/Department Reports: Ramona noted she has been working on planning projects, attending meetings and setting dates for volunteers especially for pulling Garlic Mustard and a few for wild parsnip. Mar 13th next meeting date for NCWMA. She will be doing a quarterly newsletter and asked if committee has any projects or anything you would want added to the newsletter to please let her know. Brief discussion regarding GPS apps for smart phones to record a location of an invasive species and map it. A picture is taken on the smartphone which is then plotted and recorded on the app. A training will be held in April so Ramona will learn more about it and keep the committee updated. Reed: Red Cliff is doing AIS monitoring for Asian Rough on the shoreline. Eight sites are set up with nets. They are very hard to work with as they are small and very spiny and get tangled in there. A large sein is run along beaches too and a bottom dredge is also used to scoop up the bottom to see if there an any invasives in it. They also do zooplankton for spiny water fleas and zebra mussel tows. A lot of field work planned. Todd has a big Phragmites project planned-removing all the invasive Phragmites from Red Cliff, Bayfield, and Washburn waste water treatment plants, and replacing it with native Phragmites. Reed also offered to have Andy out on the boat to do monitoring for a week, per a signed letter of support for the AIS grant. K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2018\02-28-18 AIS Minutes.docx Sally: Discussed a plant that was spotted on a lake. The sample was sent in and is waiting to hear from the DNR on what it is. Sally hasn’t seen the plant. She will keep the committee update on the findings. Sally noted the ongoing issue of finding volunteers to cover all the landings. Continued work on getting Milfoil pulled before they spread anymore. Upper EC Lake-was not able to get out and hand pull curly-leaf pondweed (CLP) but someone checked and it’s not too bad. Middle EC Lake-big patches of CLP are around but she hopes they can get it pulled this year. Sally noted divers may be available again this year to help pull plants under water using the DASH boat. Jim: Rapid response grant happening this summer. Hand pulled some strange weeds in the bay and had them sent in to a lab but the samples got lost when the lab was moved to Montana. Two grants for boat landing supervision. Two new cameras will be coming in this year, they haven’t been replaced for 12 yrs. Also discussed issue of walleye numbers being down to two per acre. Future meetings planned with DNR to discuss what should be the next approach and how to get the numbers back up. It appears that walleye numbers have been down in all of the northwestern lakes. Most extreme approach would be to shut down fishing for walleye, however that is unlikely and aid of fish hatcheries is more likely. They plan on discussing the matter further with Red Cliff representatives to hopefully find solutions to bring the numbers back up. 11. Future AIS Activities: a) Advertising, interviewing, and hiring of interns; b) Statewide AIS Coordinator/Cooperative Weed Management Area meeting, March 5-7, Beaver Creek Reserve in Eau Claire; c) Wild River Trout Unlimited Fishing Expo, March 31 (note date change), Ponzio at Northland College; Andy will be attending and invited a few other partners; d) Interviewing, hiring Clean Boats Clean Waters Interns; e) State level Citizen Lake Monitoring Network Train the Trainer workshop, 9am-3pm on May 10th, at the Arbor Vitae Town Hall in Vilas County; f) Invasive Species ID Days, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, May 11th (Bayfield in Bloom), June 8th, July 13th, August 17th, September 21st, October 12th (October’s will be the Student Science Research Symposium. g) Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference, Rochester, MN: Oct 15th-Andy will be volunteering at the conference so the entrance fee would be covered but lodging will need to be paid. h) Kids Fishing Day, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center on June 2, 2018-still looking for 1-2 people to volunteer at the AIS booth 12. Other business: Reed noted that Phragmities samples are being taken at the wastewater treatment plants. Also, trucks will be checked as they come and go. He is hoping to get some applicants to help with that and it has been posted at Northland College and few other places. Andy received an email from Mark Apfelbacher, Founder and CEO of CD3 Systems. Andy discussed the idea with Ben. Mark discussed potentially setting up one of their systems at a landing which would provide a station for people to decontaminate their boats and data would be uploaded on the use of the tools-brooms, etc. Station costs ~$20K. Funding would have to be secured. We are currently not interested in pursuing this. Krueger discussed incidents where cameras captured boaters leaving the landing with weeds on their trailers which were turned over to the Sheriff’s Office and citations were issued. 13. Next meeting date: Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 at 9 AM, in Conference Room A in Bayfield County Courthouse. Future AIS meeting dates: Aug 29th, Nov. 28th, at 9AM. 14. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:30am. Jim / Bill - carried.