Lake Fair replaces the annual TLA summer picnic.

“We have fun family activities planned for the day and – don’t tell your kids – but they might learn something too,” said Ned Greedy, Tomahawk Lake Association Executive Director.

Please help spread the word about the Lake Fair. Download the Lake Fair Flyer and distribute around the lakeland area. Please be sure to ask permission before posting at local establishments.

Fliers need to be printed on 8 ½ x 11 or 8 ½ x 14 paper and distributed around town.

We’ll see you at the Lake Fair!

Paul Shain, TLA President, and Ned Greedy, TLA Executive Director, presented an overview of the Association’s scope, board membership and strategies for battling AIS. The bulk of the meeting was devoted to answering questions from attendees.

For those who could not attend, here is a recap of the question and answer session. Download Town Hall Meeting PowerPoint to see the presentation.

Q: Is the DNR or are any universities doing research to find non-chemical solutions to AIS?

A: Studies are currently underway. To date, no definitive non-chemical solutions have been identified.

Q: What is the status of our fisheries? What resources does the DNR devote to our fisheries?

A: Overall, we have a healthy fishery on Tomahawk Lake. However, there has been concern about the walleye and musky populations.

Two DNR biologists are working on a study of Tomahawk Lake’s fisheries. So far, the study found that we have good numbers of mature walleye, but almost no young walleye. They found that the healthy Cisco population is eating walleye larva and fingerlings. Because this, walleye fry aren’t growing into mature fish. However, after walleye reach a certain size, the walleye eat the Cisco.

Our lake is stocked with walleye fry every year. Almost none of the recruited fish made it last year. Learning from the study results, this year we’re going to stock 35,000 extended growth walleye to prevent them from being hunted by the Cisco.

For anyone interested in learning more, there are two ways to do so:

• DNR biologist John Kubisiak will be at Lake Fair on August 7 and will be available to answer your questions related to our fish population.
• In addition, the Comprehensive Lake Management Plan (CLMP) calls for recruitment of fisheries committee. We are currently looking for volunteers who care about fisheries to be on the committee. If you are interested in helping with this subject matter, please contact John Rybski at silvercreekfarm@wizunwired.net.

Q: How did milfoil get here originally? What has Europe done to combat it?

A: EWM came here via bilge water from ships that traveled to the Great Lakes from Europe. Then, EWM hitchhiked inland via boats and trailers that traveled to Wisconsin’s lakes from the Great Lakes. 

EWM is not a problem in central Europe because – over many centuries – other plants have grown that can compete with EWM. We don’t have plants here that have had to compete with it. So there aren’t natural controls here like in Europe.

Q: How closely do we work with Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association?

A: We frequently work with the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association. Ned Greedy, TLA Executive Director, regularly works with the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Association president to share information, make presentations to the towns, etc.

One thing that may not be well known about Tomahawk Lake is that we are the headwaters for the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga chain. The water flows from us to them. So they’ll inherit our problems. Theirs may come to us in live wells, on engine skegs, and on anchor tackle. This makes it imperative that we work closely together to combat AIS.

Beyond the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lakes, there are many AIS issues we need to watch for in Oneida County:

-69 Oneida County lakes have rusty crayfish

-52 Oneida County lakes have Mystery Snails

-10 miles outside of Oneida County lakes have Zebra Mussels

Overall, we have relatively few problems compared to other lakes in the area but need to remain vigilant in our work to keep Tomahawk Lake beautiful.

Q: How is the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association doing with the weevil treatment program?

A: The Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association is working to treat EWM with an herbivorous weevil native to North America that has been found to feed on EWM. Minocqua, Kawaguesaga and Tomahawk Lake have the highest natural weevil population in state. 

Adult weevils feed on the stems and leaves, and females lay their eggs on the tip of the EWM; larvae bore into stems and cause extensive damage to plant tissue before pupating and emerging from the stem. Three generations of weevils hatch each summer, with females laying up to two eggs per day. It is believed that these insects are causing substantial decline in some milfoil populations. Twelve Wisconsin lakes are currently part of a two-year DNR project studying the weevil’s effectiveness in curbing Eurasian water milfoil populations.

The Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association is in the second year of a three year program. For it to work, theory suggests augmented weevil populations have to reproduce three to four times a year for three years to get to the concentration needed to make a dent in EWM. Weevils, over winter, reproduce below naturally occurring leaf litter on shorelines. They are not successful in manicured, lawn environments.  

The DNR currently doesn’t fund this program. We applaud the Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association for their out of the box thinking and for trying a natural solution. As for results, they haven’t been doing it long enough to see the results.

Q: Has the TLA looked at establishing a foundation for long term funding, similar to what Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association has established?

A: The Minocqua/Kawaguesaga Lake Association has established a foundation separate from their association to fund their work. Long term, we’ll be looking at how a foundation could help us fund our work. Currently, we acquire approximately half of our funding from the DNR and half from private donors.

Q: What are the long term affects of Hydraulic Conveyor System (HCS)?

A: In 2009, our first full operational year with the HCS, we spent the majority of the time harvesting in Town Bay.  The areas we harvested are remarkably free to this day. However, because EWM reproduces by fragmentation (both naturally occurring and boat turbulence induced), there is a constant reestablishment of EWM in the lake. Therefore, it can be difficult to tell if we didn’t harvest everything in a target area or if the EWM reestablished itself from fragments.

With HCS, we’re focusing on low acreage, new infestation areas that are also high traffic areas and areas we are physically unable to treat with existing application equipment. Even if EWM does come back in a harvested area, we’re reducing the overall number of plants thereby reducing the fragmentation possibilities.

Q: What are the relative acreage areas that the HCS covers versus what chemical treatment covers?

A: The HCS targets low acreage, new infestation areas that are also high boating traffic areas or areas which cannot be treated with existing application equipment (e.g., under docks and boathouses). Approximately five acres of EWM can be harvested by the HCS each year.

Conversely, chemical treatment focuses on the high acreage areas. This year we treated 82 acres (50 acres of infested areas + 32 acre buffer zone surrounding the infestation).

This strategy enables us to treat two ends of the spectrum – smaller areas that wouldn’t qualify for chemical treatment and larger areas that need a scaled response.

Q: How are we doing on our membership drive?

We are well on our way to our goal of 300 members! We currently have 200 members. Be sure to ask friends, neighbors, extended family members, and local businesses to join.

Q: What is the potential membership pool?

A: While there are 390 shoreline owners on Tomahawk Lake, there are thousands of people who care about the lake system and visit each year. Our current mailing list boasts about 500 people – including relatives of shoreline owners, businesses and visitors.

We encourage everyone to recommend joining the TLA to family members who visit each year, businesses who profit from lake recreation and anyone who cares about the lake system and the larger watershed.

Q: Have we considered other types of fundraising such as calendar sales or other merchandise sales?

A: We have done some merchandise opportunities such as t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts. Unfortunately, merchandise sales don’t net the kind of profit we need to run our operations. Our main and most efficient sources of funding are membership and donations. One of the best methods to generate this funding is word of mouth – neighbors talking to neighbors.

Based on feedback from members, this year, we’ve enhanced our donation process with an Angel Giving option. The Angel Giving program gives members the chance to target their funding toward specific issues. We’re seeking to raise $100,000 through the Angel Giving Program.

For those interested in showing their TLA membership and promoting our identity in the community, we will have logo merchandise available via Lands End in the next few months. Lands End TLA logo merchandise will not, however, directly generate a funding stream.

Please consider giving whatever amount you can to help meet our goal.  If fact, if every lake property owner gave $100, we would cover our entire budget! Your contribution can be in any amount and does not need to be earmarked for a specific initiative.

 Donors, members and volunteers as of August 23 will be recognized in a Lakeland Times ad that will run over Labor Day weekend!

 To make your pledge, contact Kris Hunt at krishunt52@gmail.com. 

 Donate today by filling out an Angel Gift Pledge Form. Contact Kris Hunt at krishunt52@gmail.com with any questions about the program.

Below is the Angel Giving pledge status as of July 25, 2010.

A successful campaign would result in pledges exceeding our goal of $100,000.  The Angel Gift opportunities are concentrated in the following initiatives that are critical to our success in protecting Lake Tomahawk:

• Hydraulic Conveyor System – We have had great success with the HCS last summer and the program promises to pay great long term dividends.  The investments to be made in 2010 allow us to expand the capacity of the HCS and support its full time staffing.  This two person team is headed by April Londo who has been with us since the inception of the HCS program. She is a Graduate student in Marine Biology, and is a real asset to TLA.  Our second diver is Jonathan Pierce, whose family has had a home on Tomahawk Lake since 1938 in the Pottawatomie Colony. He is a senior at UW-Stevens Point in Limnology (Study of Waters), and turned down a DNR internship to work on the Hydraulic Conveyor.
• Clean Boats, Clean Waters - Three Boat Landing Inspectors/Educators will work at our boat landings from Friday afternoon through Sunday evenings each week, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. They will be our front line against the introduction of existing and new Aquatic Invasive Species into Tomahawk Lake. They will meet and greet every boat that visits our lake during these peak hours, and make sure that our visiting boaters are aware of, and are removing AIS from their boats before they enter, and as they leave our waters.  There is a lot more that we could be doing to make the Clean Boats Clean Waters program more effective if we had the funds available.
• Research and Surveying - We will be undertaking partnership research with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, UW-Stevens Point and the Army Corps of Engineers this year.  A critical measure of long term success for our work on Lake Tomahawk depends on us understanding the behavior of herbicides used to treat EWM and determine the optimal level of application. This research will help us maintain TLA’s leadership in understanding and treating the threats to our lake.
• Lake Chemical Treatment - Because of the growth in the number of EWM infestation sites in the lake, we will be chemically treating well over 50 acres of Eurasian Water Milfoil this spring.  Because of the structure of our grant from the Wisconsin DNR, a portion of the expenses for the first 27 acres will be funded by the DNR.  TLA needs to step up to the challenge to treat this entire acreage.

Details on all projects, which range in cost from $1,000 to $14,000, are noted on the accompanying pledge form.  If an item is too expensive for a single donor, we encourage you to partner with a neighbor or friend to pledge jointly.  We also plan to contact a small handful of donors requesting them to commit to an incentive gift if all of the Angel Giving commitments are pledged on or before July 10^th.  We will also honor donor requests who wish to give anonymously.

“Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow” the short guy in the tall top hat cried. “Ten more weeks of winter!”

The statement landed with a thud on the heads of the crowd. Never had so many been so brutally disappointed. Phil, sensing an impending attack by the very crowd who only moments before had wholeheartedly adored him, turned and with his tail between his legs waddled  untouched back into his borrow. “Ingrates,” he muttered to himself as he went.

That’s the bad news. Now here’s the good.  As you read this eblast, seven or eight of those ten weeks have passed, and we’re almost to spring! So….. start dreamin’, start anticipatin’, and start plannin’, cause we’re only a few short weeks away from the fishing opener, and the Memorial Day weekend is only a few days after that.

This summer is going to be an action packed time, with more Tomahawk Lake Association activities and projects going on than ever before. In a few weeks you will be receiving our spring news letter, which will include all the information you will need to be “in the know” about what going on all summer long. One important note, we’ve changed the date of the Tomahawk Lake Fair from July 31 to August 7^th. All our kids, and their parents, and their grand parents will have a great time together on that special day.

Oh, and by the way, in the fall newsletter I mentioned that we were going to employ three people to be paired with our Clean Boats Clean Waters volunteers at the boat ramps on the weekends this summer. If you, or anyone you know has a desire to make a huge difference for our lake, and work 20 hours per week for a ridiculously high wage (just kidding) would you get in touch with me at edgreedy@gmail.com  I’ve got an opportunity for you.

So there you have it! Summer will be here in no time, and your Tomahawk Lake Association has BIG PLANS for it. My hope is that you can be here as much as possible, to enjoy the natural beauty and the many fun times that make this place truly the “Jewel of the North”.

See you soon!  Ned

NEW DATE! Tomahawk Lake Fair at Lake Tomahawk Town Park, August 7, 2010. There will be fun for the whole family – playing, learning, and creating – on Saturday, August 7 at the Town of Lake Tomahawk Landing and Snowshoe Softball Park. You and your family will be able to:

• Learn to paddle a kayak
• Tie a fly
• Ride in a new wake board boat or a vintage wood boat
• Test your accuracy with a spin casting outfit
• Look at the plants and animals that live in Lake Tomahawk
• See the Min-Aqua-Bats ski tow boat
• Learn how to fillet a fish
• Sail a sailboat?
• Learn what rescue divers do
• Learn about the ecosystems on a tour of the town bay with a trained environmentalist
• Enjoy food vending and music

Come by car or boat. You can drop off your passengers at the dock, anchor and we’ll pick you up with our water taxi.  Make plans to join us!

Please contact Ned Greedy (edgreedy@gmail.com) to learn more.