AIS TASK FORCE MEETING, 6/8/12, PAGE 4
LAKE MINNETONKA CONSERVATION DISTRICT
AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES (AIS) TASK FORCE MEETING
MINUTES
8:30 a.m., Friday, June 8, 2012
LMCD Office, 23505 Smithtown Road (Suite 120), Shorewood, MN 55331
Present: Kelsey Page, LMCD Board; Anne Hunt, LMCD Board; Jeff Morris, LMCD Board; Tony Brough, Hennepin County Environmental Services; Chip Welling, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR); Keegan Lund, MN DNR; John Barten, Three Rivers Park District (TRPD); Dick Osgood, Lake Minnetonka Association (LMA); Craig Dawson, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD); Eric Fieldseth, MCWD; Gabriel Jabbour, Tonka Bay Marina; Dick Woodruff. Also in attendance: Greg Nybeck, LMCD Executive Director.
Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as submitted.
Minutes
The minutes from the 4/13/12 AIS Task Force Meeting were accepted as submitted.
Agency Reports
Welling stated that he believed the lake tour with Senator Al Franken on May 31st was quite helpful, in which he provided greater details of. Overall, curlyleaf pondweed (CLP) treatments were done earlier in the year, although nuisance control permits may still need to be issued. There are a number of pending Eurasian Watermillfoil (EWM) permit requests, in which Keegan Lund is managing these requests. He briefly commented on the proposed AIS Cooperative Research Center, which has been established by the legislature.
Page and Jabbour asked for feedback on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers involvement on future herbicide treatment projects.
Welling stated that the MN DNR currently operates with the Army Corps through a multi-year Agreement, with some limited funding provided by the MN DNR for their services. A similar arrangement is planned for 2012, although a question remains as to whether this would continue forward after 2012.
Lund stated that he has been employed with the MN DNR for the past month, replacing Brittany Hummel. His position is the central regional invasive species specialist and his primary role will be to approve and delineate aquatic invasive permits throughout the region. He envisioned that he would be an active participant on the MCWD’s efforts to create an AIS plan within the watershed.
Barten stated that the TRPD is still getting pressure to gate public accesses managed by the agency, in which the Board is still working through this issue. Whole lake treatments for CLP were done on Lake Rebecca and Lake Hyland early in 2012, with an early trend that they have worked well. He stated that he had received minimal complaints up to this point for EWM in 2012.
Dawson stated that the MCWD had facilitated its first couple of AIS Task Force Meetings (reviewing Plan amendment legalities). The next meeting is scheduled for June 20th, with topics planned to discuss current invasive species and management techniques. He envisioned the MCWD Technical Advisory Committee would meet in the next couple of weeks (to provide guidance and framework to the MCWD AIS Task Force). He reviewed two projects planned for 2012 by the MCWD. First, it appears that the weevil project generally would be suspended due to the early spring and the flowering EWM. Second, the MCWD will be meeting with zequanox representatives in the near future to identify suitable sites for future demonstration projects.
Woodruff stated that it appears the Shorewood City Council will be adopting a resolution, with enforcement penalties, for someone that launches a watercraft after they are advised not to launch that watercraft.
Osgood updated the Task Force on following 2012 herbicide treatment projects:
· An early-season treatment for CLP was done on Carmans Bay (approximately six weeks ago).
· A treatment for EWM was done on Grays Bay the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
· A small treatment was done for EWM earlier this week on Carmans Bay.
· EWM treatments are tentatively planned for next week on Phelps Bay and Gideon Bay.
· No EWM or CLP treatments are planned on St. Albans Bay.
Brough provided an overview of a PowerPoint that was recently prepared for a briefing with the Hennepin County Commissioners relating to the North Arm public access. Highlights of his presentation included the following:
· A USGS map that tracks the historical progression of zebra mussels nationally (1986 through 2007).
· An overview of the various pathways that AIS transfer one body of water to another.
· An overview of projects pursued to date. These included: 1) a request for a LCCMR Grant Application (April, 2010), 2) the discovery of zebra mussels in Lake Minnetonka (July, 2010), 3) the request for LMCD “Save the Lake” Funds (December, 2010), and 4) a discussion with Hennepin County’s Environmental Education and Outreach (EEO) on trying something different (2011).
· A new project is being implemented at the North Arm public access that involves the use of social marketing principles and techniques (in particular barriers and motivations) to promote behavior change. This includes:
o Utilizing GIS software for design.
o Structural changes to promote to support AIS prevention.
o New entrance signage.
o Thermo plastic pavement markings.
o The identification of launch and tie down areas through prompt areas.
o Educational signage by addressing values and beliefs.(i.e., shoreline bait/bait water signs, drain plug reminder/logo, etc.).
· A thank-you exit zone area, with sign (with AIS removal area).
· He stated that there would be an evaluation of behavior change between the North Arm and Maxwell Bay public accesses when MN DNR watercraft are present and are not present. He believed that this evaluation would be relatively simple (removal of the drain plug, removal of vegetation, etc.).
Page recommended that Brough present this PowerPoint at an upcoming LMCD Board of Directors Meeting.
Discussion of Preparing a Comprehensive Vegetation Management Plan for Lake Minnetonka
Page stated that an update was provided to the LMCD Board in April on the first four years of the coordinated herbicide treatment project done on Carmans, Grays, and Phelps Bay from 2008 through 2011. At this meeting, the Report presented stated that this Task Force could prepare a Comprehensive Vegetation Management Plan (Plan) for Lake Minnetonka. Without this Plan, the Task Force recommended that no additional treatments occur after 2012. He posed three questions for feedback from the Task Force. These included:
1. Is the Task Force capable of preparing such a Plan?
2. If so, who’s going to prepare the Plan?
3. What are appropriate time constraints to get this done?
The Task Force provided a great deal of feedback on these three questions, as well as other aspects relating to the creation of a Plan. A summary of this feedback is as follows:
· A possible goal for the Plan was discussed. One recommendation was that the goal should be to assure navigability and unimpeded recreational/commercial activities on Lake Minnetonka.
· There is a need to rank EWM by bay (taking into consideration need, efficacy, and other technical merits).
· In order to receive public funds, there is a need to define who the public is and what public benefit is.
· A historical harvesting map prepared by LMCD staff was discussed. It was clarified that EWM in a number of instances extends further from the shore than what is harvested by the LMCD.
· A Plan needs to define the various public stakeholders, including their interests in the Lake and how they define a success. One example discussed was the public perception of matted EWM vs. matted native species.
· There are 14 municipalities on Lake Minnetonka with wide ranging philosophies of how to best manage EWM and improve water quality.
· The consensus was the following:
o To refer a draft outline prepared by Page to a sub-committee of the AIS Task.
o The purpose for this sub-committee was to prepare a first draft of a Plan for Lake Minnetonka. This draft will then be reviewed and vetted by the full AIS Task Force.
o This Plan needs to create a mechanism, for discussion by the full Task Force, on how it’s going to be funded. Most likely, this will involve a combination of public and private funds.
o This Plan needs to identify the various stakeholders and better define what roles they are comfortable with.
o There will be three difficult questions for this Plan to address. First, what criteria should be used to determine whether a need exists? Second, how do you prioritize funding for herbicide treatments? Third, how to allocate and spread public funding?
o Task Force members Barten, Fieldseth, Osgood, and Welling agreed to serve on this sub-committee. The Task Force requested that they coordinate sub-committee meeting ASAP to get the process of creating this Plan ASAP.
o The next full AIS Task Force Meeting was scheduled for Friday, August 10th. The Task Force requested that the sub-committee determine later on whether this Task Force Meeting could be coordinated as scheduled whether the date needs to be moved back.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Greg Nybeck
Executive Director