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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAquatic Invasive Species Committee - Minutes - 2/27/2019 Bayfield County Aquatic Invasive Species Committee MINUTES February 27th, 2019 (to be approved) Present: Nan Olson-Chair, Jim Krueger-Vice Chair, Jeremy Oswald-Board of Supervisor District #5, Sally Pease-Eau Claire Lakes Association, Andrew Teal-AIS Coordinator, Reed Saam-Red Cliff Treaty Natural Resources Division, Ramona Shackleford-NCWMA Coordinator, Reba Rice (CEO NLCC) and Mark Witmer (Financial Director) from North Lakes Community Clinic, Karen Austin (via telephone), Robert Liebermann-U.S. Forest Service, Larry Fickbohm-Board of Supervisor District #3, & Melissa Kraft-LWCD Assistant 1. Nan called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. 2. Introductions: Introductions roundtable. 3. Public Comment: None. 4. Motion: Approve minutes from November 28th, 2018. Pease/Oswald – motion carried. The committee moved agenda item #9 up to agenda item #5. 5. Discussion/possible action: Clean Boats Clean Waters (CBCW)-Iron River watercraft inspectors beginning in 2019. They will tentatively be housed at North Lakes Community Clinic (NLCC) in Iron River. Discussion that NLCC should track and document the hours/times for processing the inspectors’ payroll and provide the documentation to Andy Teal. The total will be used as match towards the grant. Rice noted that their intern, Shane, will likely be processing the payroll for the CBCW-Iron River inspectors. NLCC will invoice Bayfield County LWCD for the payroll amounts they paid to those inspectors and Bayfield Co. would then reimburse NLCC. Teal will provide Austin with the payroll dates. Austin will be back in the area mid-May. Austin will provide North Lakes with a work permit if there are juveniles hired. Motion: Larry Fickbohm made a motion, 2nd by Jim Krueger, to accept North Lakes Community Clinic’s offer to process the payroll for the Clean Boats Clean Water (CBCW)-Iron River watercraft inspectors in 2019, motion carried. Karen Austin (via telephone) left the meeting. Ben Dufford entered meeting at 9:22 a.m. 6. Grant Updates: Andy noted AIS Grant #5 funds have been used and final reimbursement will be requested. Discussion of new AIS grant award of $93,500 2019-2021 grant period. Bayfield Co AIS position at 50% time per year. The other 50% of the time typically spent on AIS would be spent on work as a Lakes Conservation Specialist for Bayfield County. We have received the 25% advance grant money for the 2019 grant year for Clean Boats Clean Waters (CBCW)-Iron River and Clean Boats Clean Water-Lake Superior and received the 2018 final reimbursement payments. 2nd landing will be covered by Ashland Co. LWCD & Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Therefore, we will be at Short Bridge landing instead. We will be seeking interns for those positions. Ramona noted that the $3000 GLRI grant award received will fund some hours for Ramona & Andy to use for their time to contact landowners regarding Knotweed control. Knotweed is treated with herbicide, and landowner permission to use it is required (permissions are good for five years unless otherwise noted). Rice noted that if we need grant writing help in the future that we are welcome to contact the person she recently hired to help NLCC with grant writing. K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2019\02-27-19 AIS Minutes.docx 7. Discussion/possible action: Citizen Committee member -Business Representative search/confirmation: The search continues for someone to fill this vacant spot. Update from Jim Krueger on his contact the new Chamber of Commerce Director in Cable, WI to see if he has interest in filling the vacant spot: Krueger said James Boullon is filling in for 2 months until they get a new director. 8. Discussion/possible action: Advertising for summer interns and prioritizing funding. Andy said advertising will be broader and better recruiting for interns this year and hopes to get more applicants. Three positions are needed for CBCW work. It is more challenging to only have two but they would make the best of it if that is all that is available. Boat washer unit will need an intern so a total of 4-5 summer interns will be needed. It was noted that some knowledge of natural resources would be helpful. The CBCW interns would work on Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon. Reba Rice noted that she will include that information in their staff newsletter. Andy will get all the information to Reba regarding the intern hours. Pease noted that she is also looking for volunteer hours for someone to sit at a landing for a few hours on the weekend and all landings would appreciate and need volunteers. 9. Discussion/possible action: Recent and ongoing communications to consider some type of decontamination ordinance, either through Bayfield County, or at the Town level, and possible Lake Owen decontamination units-Cheryl Clemens. Discussion regarding Lake Owen and decontamination station –two mobile stations would most likely be set up. Clemens noted that a March 7th meeting date is set for more discussion on her proposal. Discussion regarding the outcome of Clemens’ discussion at the last Land Conservation Committee (LCC) meeting. Ben Dufford talked with the Bayfield Co. Sheriff about the possible ordinance. Ben received a call from Tom Johnson- Pres. of Lake Association for Lake Owen. Dufford noted that the LCC is supportive of decontamination stations, however, the committee is hesitant to make a full county ordinance for one or two units. Several issues were discussed on the matter. Issue regarding no room at the landing for a decontamination station and question of difficulty involved enforcing/directing people to drive the distance involved to get people to use it. Krueger agreed and said he was at meetings where the issue of 9 voluntary landings and the difficult issue of enforcement and the likely cost to do so. Hours were another issue discussed regarding the ordinance. It was noted that the Town of Drummond had no interest in creating an ordinance due to lack of staff to deal with it, and various other reasons. Pease discussed Eurasian watermilfoil issue in Tomahawk Lake. Discussion on major issues that landings do not have room and containment of flow from decontamination. Rice and Witmer left at 10:22 am. Drummond would be a good site for the stations, but Cable and Namakagon would not be very feasible, simply because the decontamination units need to be at or near Lake Owen as a part of their grant agreement. NGLVC was a suggested possible location as well as the highway garages. It was mentioned that in addition to boats, decontamination efforts also include kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. Finding, hiring, and keeping trained/qualified staff at the locations is an issue, in addition to liability, insurance, pay rates, etc. 10. AIS Coordinator Report: Teal discussed his report in detail and is on file. In addition, Andy was asked to follow- up with Karen Austin on harassment issue. 11. Partner/Department Reports: Krueger: Reported on the Namakagon Lake evaluation: heavy amount of hybrid milfoil at the mouth- Birch Lane Bridge right in the bay. Private boat landing (Four Seasons) and back water/wash coming at that location. Permit was completed to do treatment in the bay possibly in early June. Mums Bay and the north end of lake by the Mogasheen Resort has some too. The area treated last year looks good with only a couple left so it obviously worked well. Krueger said a newsletter will be going out with the information about it. He also noted that the 2019 Birkebeiner went well. LEEP Day is set for May 15th, 2019. Pease will send Nan information so that Nan can try and find volunteers. Nan Olson left meeting at 10:41 a.m.. Shackleford report: Will be working a lot on Knotweed Control. Right-of-way workshops for road crews so they can identify invasive species and how to prevent spread and best time to mow or not. Upcoming workshops are set to be held at the Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center and in Solon Springs. Pease update: Tomahawk weed pulls. Need to find a new place to house DASH (Diver Assisted Suction Harvester) boat next year as current location is up for sale. Hoping to find somewhere local that someone is willing to store for them. K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2019\02-27-19 AIS Minutes.docx Robert Liebermann update: Caitlin Hoenig will be coming on again this summer to work for the FS. Reed update: Discussed report on the 2-year study on zooplankton which had concerning results. The Red Cliff Fisheries Dept. confirmed the presence of a new non-native species of crustacean zooplankton in Lake Superior, the cladoceran Diaphanosoma fluviatile, during early detection sampling efforts along the Red Cliff shoreline in 2018. This single individual was found in Buffalo Bay in one of the tows. The ecosystem risk posed by the species is uncertain because past introductions haven’t been studied to determine whether impacts occurred. This is the first discovery of this species in Lake Superior, however, it has been previously documented in Lake Erie (2015) and Lake Michigan (2018). It is native to South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The thought is that they came in ballast water carried in ships possibly from Duluth. D. fluviatile can be difficult to distinguish from native species and correct identification requires the examination of several fine-scale physical features. The specimen collected was verified by both the UW-Superior Research Institute in Superior, WI and the Aquatic Resources Center, Inc. in Nashville, TN. (Three labs total confirmed what it is.) Zebra mussel veligers were also found and spiny water fleas all over. They will continue to do studies through funding from Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding which was awarded to Red Cliff by Bureau of Indian Affairs. Reed noted that he will see if Ian can possible attend the Kids Fishing Day at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center on June 1st. 12. Future AIS Activities- a. Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention, Stevens Point WI, April 10-12, 2019. Sally Pease intends to go along with Andy. b. Invasive Species ID Days: May 10 (Bayfield In Bloom), June 7, July 12, August 16, September 20, and the Student Science Research Symposium on October 11 at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center c. Kids Fishing Day, June 1 from 9 AM-1PM at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center d. Northwest Wisconsin Lakes Conference, June 21, 2019 8AM-3PM in Hayward e. AIS Snapshot Day, August 17, 2019, rendezvous site TBD. 13. Other Business: Invader Crusader Award discussion. Andy plans on nominating Red Cliff. 14. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:54 a.m. Motion to adjourn Pease/Oswald. 15. Next meeting date: Future regular AIS meeting date: Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019 at 9AM; Aug 28th, 2019 at 9AM; and Nov 20th, 2019 at 9AM.