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MILFOIL UPDATE by Chris Liruistrom <br />What was a green menace on the horizon <br />two short years ago has become the grim green <br />reality of today. The scenario reads a bit like a <br />scene from the movie 'Invasion of the Body <br />Snatchers" only this is the "Invasion of the Lake <br />Snatchers." <br />The silent growing masses reach toward <br />the surface in greater numbers daily to ensnare <br />sail boats and power boats alike. Milfoil be­ <br />comes so pervasive it eventually snatches entire <br />bays or shoreline areas from recreational use. <br />■""he' ssue is no longer how to control it but how <br />to cope with it. <br />Whatmilfoil infestation does so insidiously <br />is speed up the ecological clock. The "dog days" <br />of August are now pushed ahead to the "dog <br />days" of mid-July. Wuw, the clean dear swim­ <br />ming and boating season is drastically reduced. <br />So too, the useful recreational areas of the bays <br />are diminished. That means more boats mi­ <br />grate to the remaining deep water areas thus in­ <br />creasing the boats per acre density. We feel the <br />State DNR should now consider an appropriate <br />reduction in their boats per aae denblty for­ <br />mula to reflect the diminished boating acrt <br />caused by milfoil infestation. According <br />LMCD, niilfoil harvesting director Norm Pau- <br />lus, "one-third of Lake Minnetonka is curie,y <br />u*tsuitable for recreatioual use." <br />So what is being done about the milfoil <br />problem? The LMCD has i,et up a milfoil task <br />force with representatives from th<* "t-ite DSR, <br />Army Corp of Engineers, Hennepi • ’ Fresh * <br />water Fo.iiidation and Water Sh <br />group meets Friday mornings <br />Freshwater Foundation in ^ <br />is welcome. The LMCD a ’®* h: <br />vesting program under way <br />indiv'j'^-'i’J, in charge of this . . ’-ui a <br />feat guest speaker at the L.V.. Je 'J Tal <br />Meeting on August 20th at the Lafayette Cub. <br />^r. Paurus is a retired engineer from Control <br />Data and has served as the Orono Citv Coundl <br />representative to the LMCD. <br />Right now in the area of Milfoi’ ”«search, <br />over 15 proposals have been subn. ‘•o the <br />FreshwaterFoimdationfor considerati^--:.. <br />proposals range from mechanical and chemical <br />cc'irtrol ^0 pure esoteric scientific research. Bio <br />ctr.itrol by various invertebrates is also being <br />‘'onsidered. Collaborative research is being <br />considered by the DNR, Freshwater Founda­ <br />tion and theUniversity of Minnesota. Although <br />it appears that milfoil has the attention of gov- <br />ernmen agencies, significant funding has yet to <br />materialize. Therefore the LMCD and Freshwa ­ <br />ter Foundation are seeking donations from the <br />public ic combat .milfoil. Contributions maybe <br />made r lyable to "LMCD Save the Lake," 402 E. <br />Lake Street, Wayzata, MN 553391. <br />LMLOA AT WORK ON MILFOIL <br />Hennepin County has aHovved th'' » <br />individual.^ with certain violations • <br />who must do community service cl * <br />service at Lake Minnetonka Public boa. . .^.ch <br />S'tes. . hey are to identify milfoil on boats and <br />pass o-:r brr _hures. Nan^y Weir, the LMCD <br />Liaison ch tor LMLOA has organized a group <br />of lakeshorc: owmers to supervise these commu- <br />nit.. service workers. Thank you .Nancy and <br />your CO workers'!! <br />-roT! IGHT ON LUCY UPHoFF <br />Me: ', .r ^nks to Lucy Uphoff who spear- <br />hei own fund raiser for the Freshw’ater <br />.tion. She designed and had printed, at <br />jwm cost, T-shirts which depicted the milfoil <br />pioblem. She has sold all the shirts and turned <br />the t?roceeds over to the rmcfoil fund at the <br />Freshwater Foundation. <br />WANTED <br />Lakeshore owmers ^o collect water samples <br />from their bay on a regular basis. Cali .Nanc\^ <br />Weir for more details - 474-74-k