Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAquatic Invasive Species Committee - Minutes - 5/22/2019 Bayfield County Aquatic Invasive Species Committee MINUTES May 22nd, 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, Robert Liebermann-U.S. Forest Service, Jim Giffin- Lake Minnesuing in Douglas Co; Larry Fickbohm-Board of Supervisor District #3, & Melissa Kraft-LWCD Assistant Nan called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Introductions: Introductions roundtable. Public Comment: None. Motion: Approve minutes from February 27th, 2019. Krueger/Pease – motion carried. Grant Updates: Shackleford received a grant in the amount of $3,000 that she was able to use for Knotweed control. Teal helped her contact landowners for permissions to treat knotweed on their properties. CBCW-LS $16,000 award for water craft inspections. One intern started on May 6th and two interns will begin this weekend. We will cover Washburn Marina, Bayfield Boat Launch, Loon’s Foot in Superior, and Short Bridge on Fish Creek Slough. Ice packs and towels have been delivered. AIS #6 grant will fund half of the AIS position and the surface water county funds will fund the remaining 50%. Discussion/possible action: Citizen Committee member -Business Representative search/confirmation: The search continues for someone to fill this vacant spot. Nan Olson will see if there is anyone interested at the upcoming North Lakes Community Clinic meeting she will be attending. Teal will send her a position description for the position. Discussion on ideas for surface water conservation projects on or near lakes and streams in Bayfield County: Teal has begun learning the Mitigation process from Travis-LWCD Technician. Teal asked for input on ideas the committee may have for surface water projects. Krueger reported some areas he is aware of where work may be needed, particularly the Fish Stix projects on Lake Namakagon, and other Healthy Lakes practices. Mike D’Andrea is leading the project effort. Teal noted that all things surface water/protection, such as, erosion control, stormwater management, shoreline planting, rip-rap, etc., are the current project goals for the position. Discussion/possible action on Diver Assisted Suction Harvester (DASH) boat use inside and outside Barnes: Curly leaf pondweed on Middle Eau Claire Lake for 2 weeks then will go to Tomahawk & Sandbar. If anyone is available to come out and see the DASH boat please contact Pease. Pease discussed the process of pulling curly leaf pondweed and noted she will bring her laptop for the next AIS meeting to show photos of the process. AIS Coordinator Report: Teal discussed his report in detail and is on file. Teal attended the WI Lakes Partnership and was invited to speak on a decontamination unit panel of speakers. Teal and Pease both attended the conference. Pease and Teal were trained to be R3 Angling Instructors and took away a lot of ideas to use for Free Fishing Day events with kids. Griffin added that there were over 60 various workshops you could choose from to attend at different times. He also noted he is seeing more science type sessions, which he enjoys. Eric Olson with UW Extension is focusing on Social Science sessions. K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2019\05-22-19 AIS Minutes.docx Four students from South Shore School that participated in the Northwoods Invasive Species Poster Contest placed in the contest-2nd, 3rd, and two Honorable Mentions. Oneida County puts together a calendar using the winning posters. Invader Crusader Award discussion: Teal nominated Chad Abel and Gabrielle VanBergen of Red Cliff for their work on the non-native Phragmites at local wastewater treatment plants and they won. The Invasive Plant Association of Wisconsin (IPAW) gives out the award. The DNR handles a lot of the submissions and is an IPAW board member. The awards themselves are made of laser-engraved Buckthorn wood. Suggestion was made for Teal to do a press release (ADP & Bottom Line) regarding the award. Teal will be presenting a PowerPoint and discussion at the CheqYes! event (through the Young Professionals group) tomorrow, at The Sandbar Restaurant, in Ashland, May 23rd at 6pm. Partner/Department Reports: Krueger report regarding Namakagon: He noted he has a 10-acre permit written regarding treatment of hybrid watermilfoil, which came into the lake most likely from a private resort-the initial population started at Lakewoods Marina. Treatment planned for early June, however, the water level is still too high. He wants project completed before July 4th when heavy boat traffic is expected. Hand pulls are set for June, July, and August. He also noted that he has about $9,000 left from a $20,000 grant they had received. He will be applying for another grant soon. Shackleford was unable to attend the meeting, but she provided a written report. Pease update: LEEP Day went well on May 15th, 2019. Finding volunteers for the boat landing has been difficult. Tomahawk weed pulls. Update on finding a new place to house DASH (Diver Assisted Suction Harvester) boat next year as current location is up for sale and need to find somewhere local that someone is willing to store for them. Robert Liebermann update: Cheryl Clemens, the Lake Manager at Lake Owen, contacted Rob regarding yellow iris. He is looking into a way to possibly provide funding to help with treatment/removal of it. Rob reported they are treating knapweed in the Barrens area and buckthorn South of US Hwy 2. He also noted they have been having several serious issues with a company they hired out of Oregon to treat buckthorn and hopefully those issues can get resolved. Nan Olson noted that the Northwest Wisconsin Lakes Conference will be held on June 21st, at the Hayward Middle School, from 8:30am-3:45pm. Oswald discussed an ongoing water issue at Pigeon Lake. The water level is flooding onto the roadway causing hazardous issues and the county has closed the roads during these high-water events for safety reasons. He noted that there may be AIS issues that may arise out of whatever solution/plan that comes out of the issue regarding water on the road, damage to homes, etc. There is even talk of water being transferred out of that area, likely through pumping (although we are not sure where exactly they could go with that if it happens). We also discussed that Pigeon Lake is a tricky site for many reasons: 1) This lake is one of the few known sites with Fassett’s locoweed, a federally endangered plant species, 2) the lake may have bacterial contamination due to several septic systems being underwater, 3) people’s homes are flooding, 4) It sits right at the top of the watershed (but it seems unclear if it is in the Lake Superior or Mississippi River watershed) so pumping water may result in water simply coming back into the lake OR there may be legal complications if water is pumped into a different watershed, 5) the lake has confirmed reports of non-native freshwater jellyfish, 6) Building the road higher just raises the water level to the next lowest point on the landscape, and 7) This road is a critical artery between communities and for emergency services, highway crews, etc. Future AIS Activities- a. Invasive Species ID Days: June 7, July 12, August 16, September 20, and the Student Science Research Symposium on October 11 at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center b. CheqYes! Presentation at The Sandbar Restaurant in Ashland, May 23, 2019 at 6pm 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 at Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Other Business: Question on harassment issue/training. Teal noted he will be going through a harassment presentation power point with the interns. Unfortunately, the point person who was planning an anti-harassment training geared toward training professionals how to train their staff had to back out a few weeks ago, so it looks like that won’t be happening for now. K:\AIS\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2019\05-22-19 AIS Minutes.docx Discussion on importance of getting youth involved with conservation issues and AIS. Jim Krueger left meeting at 10:25am Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Motion to adjourn Pease/Fickbohm. Next meeting date: Future regular AIS meeting date: Wednesday, Aug 28th, 2019 at 9AM; and Nov 20th, 2019 at 9AM.