Central & Mandatory Inspection/Decontaminations coming, Stop this B.S!

Please call the MnDNR & Gov. Dayton to stop the central inspection plan for East & West Sylvia, Lake John and Pleasant Lake near Annandale.

See https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1991759987720575&id=1593672207529357

In a first for Minnesota, Wright County to make watercraft inspections for aquatic invasive species mandatory
In a first for Minnesota, Wright County to make watercraft inspections for aquatic invasive species mandatory
The move signals a get-tough attitude toward a threat to Minnesota lakes.

Carroll

PS. This will not stop the spread, only stop you from enjoying Public Water’s

ALERT, ALERT:

Call the MnDNR to STOP this from taking effect!

http://dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/commissioner/index.html

The agreement/Delegation of Authority has not be signed. We can & must stop this from becoming effective and denying people from using public waters.

Even with Gated Accesses and full-time Inspection staff, they were unable to prevent the infestation of Christmas Lake in Shorewood & Lake Minnewashta in Chanhassen. Minnewashta was treated last fall, with a followzup inspection on Jube 15, they found a Live Zebra Mussel in the treatment area.

All this will do is come close to privatizing Public Waters. If they do it here, it will soon come to a lake near you!

Call MnDNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr at 651-259-5022 &/or any of the other Deputy or Assistant Commissioners as well as call Gov. Mark Dayton at 800-657-3717 or 651-201-3400 and ask this be stopped. It will not stop the spread nor really slow the spread, it will only serve to prevent people from using Public Waters!

No night or early morning launching unless you 1st go during open hours for a inspection and decontamination if required.

Sample letter:

Dear Commissioner Tom Landwehr:

Please Stop this pilot project now, and do not let it be executed/enacted.

As proposed there are many questions and loopholes that come with anything like this which benefits lakeshore owners and takes away the rights of the average watercraft owner to responsibility use the “Public Waters”. In essence it says I am guilty before being accused or charged with a violation of the law.

This plan does not (from my research and reading available documents) prevent launching of watercraft from private property without the same inspection & decontamination as required of any non-lakeshore residents.

This plan will require extra travel of users traveling from other areas, it will prevent the use due hours of operation of the inspection/decontamination station. If I as many times do want to fish one of these Public Waters starting prior to their station opening time, such as launching at 5am I would have to drive from my home in Chaska the day before to have my boat certified, then return home, only to drive back the following morning (a 2 1/2 hour round-trip). This I would say violates my rights as a Law Abiding Minnesota resident. Not very many have time time or money in fuel to burn and would do that, thus the lakeshore owners achieve their ultimate goal of keeping outsiders/non-residents off these Public Waters! This will likely result in only keeping mostly Fishermen off these lake’s.

How will you stop lakeshore residents from launching without inspections from private property or allowing their friend’s to launch from private accesses on their property?

How will this prevent a person from transferring Starry Stonewort or other A.I.S. from these to other lake’s?

This whole program wreaks of the ultimate goal expressed by many lakeshore owners throughout the state, which is often heard in public, keep outsiders off our lake! In Minnesota, these are “Public Waters” available for everyone to enjoy, but no longer with this plan.

The FAILURES of the Inspection programs have already been documented at Christmas Lake in Shorewood & Lake Minnewashta in Chanhassen. Both with full-time Inspection whenever gates are open, both were infested and treated at uncalculated costs, but easily over $100,000 each in time & materials, only to still be infested. June 15th, Lake Minnewashta was reinspected and a Zebra Mussel was found in the treated area. How many were missed?, Nobody knows!

Please, prevent this from being enacted!

Sincerely
Cja

P.S.: If you or your staff would be willing to sit down for a drink, meal or just conversation, please call me.

Interesting. How many SECONDS a day do you think is dedicated to reading letters or e-mails from the unwashed masses?

Don’t mean to come off as smarta$$ here but unless “Muskie Inc.” is on the letterhead i see little chance of getting past the staffer that opens the mail.

Color me skeptical that any letters or e-mails get through.

But, and i mean this, thank you for fighting the fight and keeping us informed.

You want to get things done, hit DNR in the pocket book, Things will change

Dutchboy wrote:

Don’t mean to come off as smarta$$ here but unless “Muskie Inc.” is on the letterhead i see little chance of getting past the staffer that opens the mail.

Color me skeptical that any letters or e-mails get through.

But, and i mean this, thank you for fighting the fight and keeping us informed.

working on the Muskies Inc support as well as Lawyers to file a suit.

TIM NORGREN wrote:

You want to get things done, hit DNR in the pocket book, Things will change

Working on this too, contacting Lawyers to review & file a lawsuit. If you are or know a Lawyer that may be interested in helping fight the restrictions being pushed to keep watercraft off these lakes.

One question really needs to be asked: How when Starry Stonewort was first found in Lake Koronis did it get there?

Facts & Assuptions:
1) The nearest lake known to be infested was over 400 miles away. Little Muskego Lake near Milwaukee. http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/invasives/AISDetail.aspx?roiseq=114080430

2) The next closest with a number of infested lakes was in Michigan.

3) Currently all infestations in Wisconsin are in the Eastern 1/4.

4) When 1st discovered it had already covered an area of over 250 Acres. Thus, it had been in there for a few years.

5) How msny wstercraft possibly had transported it to others lakes? We can easily conservatively assume 2 years @ 20 weeks x 10 per day = 400 accessed watercraft, assume 50% go to other lakes is 200 assume 30% go to different lakes, thus 60 lakes could easily be infested or way more.

6) The MnDNR say it is difficult to ID due to native look-a-likes.

7) How many lakes in the 400 miles from Little Muskego to Lake Koronis are infested and not identified?

8) Since it was found in Koronis in 2015 they have identified it in 7 other Minnesota Lakes.

9) How many lakes are yet to be identified as infested and now spreading it to other lakes?

I would bet Minnesota has 50 or more other infested lakes. Track the largest Recreational Lakes, Gull, Whitefish, Minnetonka, Ottertail, Clearwater, Minnewaska, Battle Lake, Mille Lacs, and msny more.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticplants/starrystonewort/index.html

The more you know the more you shake your head and wonder why these people want to try anything when we are well behind and even on 2 lakes with full-time inspectors & gated accesses they became infested with Zebra Mussels. Both were treated and the following year new Zebra Mussels were found.

Biggest reason to put up these station is to keep ALL Outsiders off these lakes! In essence “Privitizing the lakes”.

Look at whom has been behind much of this, the President of the Christmas Lake Association Joe Schneider and the Minnesota Lakes & Rivers, Jeff Forestor.

They may slow the spread but it will never be stopped.

Now, please call the Commissioner of the MnDNR Tom Landwehr and let him know you do not want to waste resources on the Central Inspection plan.

This is nuts! From the same people that dump fertilizer on their lake shore lots and then complain about the weeds growing like crazy. Then they dump a bunch of weed killer in the lake at that.

Here is a local contact to voice your concerns to about the Pilot plan:

Wright county water and soil district water specialist – Alicia O’Hare 763 682 1933 ext 115

She had some good info on it and is also listening to concerns. Though I believe she is on the side of pushing this thru.

She did say right now they are getting more calls for than against. I believe this is because the Lake Assoc’s are more organized than us boaters. I’m sure they get something in the mail telling them to call. Lots of us who live in the county didn’t even know about this until now.

It has not gone thru yet, so call and voice your concerns. I guess the DNR has the final say. I think the county is hoping to get it thru by the end of the month.

Here’s also a local DNR contact to call that Alicia gave me for the area:
Heidi Wolf – 651-259-5152