Despite being declined on our February 2011 grant requests, we learned from the process and resubmitted grant requests in August, all of which were approved by the WDNR in October.
These grants provide funding for us to hire boat ramp monitors Fridays through Sundays from May through September 2012 and 2013. Boats launching from our public ramps will be examined by our monitors for aquatic invasive species, including Eurasion Milfoil and Curly Leaf Pondweed.
We had 15 volunteers conduct extensive testing for the invasive plants last summer, with the finding that the Quiet Lakes Sawyer County are dealing with this problem, including Spider Lake
Also included in the grant is the update of our aquatic plant study, last done 5 years ago, which provides an updated chronicle of the plant species growing in the lakes.
As part of the ramp monitoring grants, the Quiet Lakes must contribute approximately $19,000 over the two years, virtually all of which we expect to contribute through “in-kind” volunteer aquatic invasive species testing programs.
Finally, Kristy Maki, the Sawyer County Invasives guru, has agreed to provide a presentation on avoiding invasives in gardening, which our many gardeners will find extremely interesting.
