OCLRA eNews – March 2025
The next OCLRA Board meeting is Monday, April 14, at 9 a.m., at the ADRC building in Rhinelander, across the parking lot from Trig’s grocery. All are welcome.
- OCLRA presents on Lake Steward program at Lakes Convention
- Theme set for Northwoods Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting
- Long-time OCLRA board member Norris Ross resigns
- Northwoods Land Trust launched Oneida County project
- Wisconsin Lakes Convention includes a workshop on hazardous wakes
- North Lakeland plans second Woods and Waters Conference
- Oneida County offers CBCW training sessions
- Glacial Lakes Partnership sets lake conservation webinars
- Video looks at bottom craters from wakeboat propeller wash
- Vilas and Oneida Counties set Northwoods Lights Out Events
- Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives Partnership sets annual meeting
- Oneida Land & Water offers watershed protection program
- Oneida County Clean Waters presents latest highlights
- Sea Lamprey Project staff firings raise concern
- Book explores the wonders of the world of fishes
OCLRA presents on Lake Steward program at Lakes Convention
OCLRA president Ted Rulseh will join Lily Carr of Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates in a presentation on the Lake Steward recognition program at the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention March 26-28 at the Stevens Point Holiday Inn. The presentation, on Thursday, March 27 at 10:40 a.m., is part of a “super session” focusing on the power of collaboration. Lake Steward is a simple but highly effective way to recognize property owners for implementing best shoreline practices to protect the waters. It has been embraced by some 40 lake associations in Minnesota, and OCLRA is looking to replicate it here in Wisconsin, starting in Oneida County. To learn more about Lake Steward, visit here.
Theme set for Northwoods Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting
“Quakes to Our Lakes: What’s Shakin’?” is the theme for the annual Northwoods Six-County Lakes and Rivers Meeting to be held at Nicolet College in Rhinelander on Friday July 11. The program will include presentation on enhanced boat wakes, herbicide treatment alternatives for nuisance aquatic vegetation, sources of grants for lake protection and improvement, and a panel discussion on herbicide treatments. Please save the date and watch for details. Pre-registration is not required but is encouraged. There is no charge for attendance.
Long-time OCLRA board member Norris Ross resigns
Norris Ross, a Three Lakes Chain resident and for two decades a lake advocate and OCLRA board member, has resigned his position. He has been one of the board’s most active and influential members and will be greatly missed. Norris retired from his staff biologist position at Flinn Scientific in 2004 and put his experience and education to work on environmental volunteerism. He was recruited by the president of the Three Lakes Waterfront Association (TLWA) to a re-organizational meeting of the OCLRA and had been on both Boards ever since. Through the years he has held almost every position on the TLWA Board, including securing grants, volunteer training, lake management planning, and newsletter editing. On the OCLRA board, Norris has always been about “Doing the Right Things.” The OCLRA board has lost three other long-time members in the past two years: Rick Foral (secretary) and the late Tom Rudolph and Rob Hagge (treasurer).
Northwoods Land Trust launches Oneida County Project
The Northwoods Land Trust has received grants through the DNR Surface Water Grant Program and a private foundation for landowner outreach and public education to preserve vital shoreline habitats in Oneida County. The goal is to promote and protect the county’s extraordinary natural resources. The land trust notes that of the county’s 42 watersheds, 19 are among the healthiest in the state – but many of these are highly vulnerable. The land trust and partners aim to inspire landowners to take measures to protect land and water resources for future generations. To find out more, visit https://northwoodslandtrust.
Wisconsin Lakes Convention includes workshop on hazardous wakes
“Enhanced Wakes on Wisconsin Lakes: Education and Regulation at the Town Level” is the topic of a workshop at the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention in Stevens Point on Friday, March 28, at 1:45 p.m. The workshop will discuss the history of local enhanced wake ordinances, why they are important, how to help enact them. Presenters from the Last Wilderness Alliance will also discuss common objections from town boards and wake surfers and how to deal with them.
North Lakeland plans second Woods and Waters Conference
The North Lakeland Discovery Center in Manitowish Waters will hold its second Woods and Water Conference on Friday, April 25. Last year’s event drew more than 100 attendees; the 2025 conference offers more than 15 speakers with insights from scientists, lake association leaders, landowners, resource professionals, and outdoor enthusiasts. Visit here to register.
Oneida County offers CBCW training sessions
The Oneida County Land & Water Conservation Department’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program is offering seven Clean Boats Clean Waters training sessions this spring: two virtual trainings on Zoom and five in-person trainings at area boat landings. There will be two virtual sessions on Zoom co-hosted with Vilas County Land & Water and FLOW AIS (Forest, Langlade, Marinette and Oconto Waterways):
- Tuesday, April 22, 1 to 3:00 p.m.
- Monday, May 5, 9 to 11 a.m.
In-person trainings at boat landings (register here) will be held 5 to 7 p.m. at:
- Tuesday, May 6, Pelican Lake Boat Landing
- Tuesday, May 13, Lake Nokomis Boat Landing
- Thursday, May 15, Boom Lake Boat Landing Hodag Park, Rhinelander)
- Tuesday, May 20, Lake Tomahawk Boat Landing
- Thursday, May 22, Cy Williams Park Picnic Shelter, Three Lakes
Glacial Lakes Partnership sets lake conservation webinars
The Midwest Great Lakes Partnership has announced its 2025 Lake Conservation Webinars. These free webinars address a diverse range of lake and fish habitat management issues: aquatic plants, algal blooms, national lake water quality mapping, conservation planning, fish habitat structures, walleye spawning and stocking, and more. For more information and to register, visit MidwestGlacialLakes.org.
Video looks at bottom craters from wakeboat propeller wash
A video distributed by Lakes at Stake Wisconsin shows evidence of craters in lake bottoms caused by propeller wash from wakeboats operated in a bow-up posture. Fisherman on Lake Beulah in Walworth County have discovered and filmed some large sand craters in 22.5 feet of water in a popular ice fishing location. View a video shoeing the bottom disruption at https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Vilas and Oneida Counties set Northwoods Lights Out Events
The Vilas and Oneida County Land & Water departments are promoting two voluntary Lights Out weekends. Darkness is important for many Northwoods plants and animals and is important for properly enjoying the night sky. The events are set for:
- June 27-29: Fireflies, nighttime pollinators, and bats.
- Aug 22-24: Bats and stargazing, including the Perseid meteor shower.
For more information contact Quita Sheehan at mashee@vilascountywi.gov or 715-479-3747.
Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives Partnership sets annual meeting
The Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives Partnership will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, March 20, at 1 p.m. via Zoom. The meeting will feature a summary of the organization’s 2024 work and plans for 2025. WHIP works on many projects including wetland invasive species like purple loosestrife and phragmites prevention, monitoring, and management. All are invited. Visit here for the agenda.
Oneida Land & Water offers watershed protection program
The Oneida County Land & Water Conservation Department recently gave a presentation on watershed protection, as opposed to restoration. The program, “A Watershed Moment: Keeping High Quality Waters High Quality,” gives a definition of a watershed, describes the DNR’s Healthy Watersheds High Quality Waters action plan, and outlines Oneida County Programs, including a three-year grant promote watershed stewardship. You can view the hour-long program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Oneida County Clean Waters presents latest highlights
Oneida County Clean Waters Action has issued its highlights from February. OCCWA is focusing on petitioning for the county to reconsider zoning changes made in 2018 to the County’s Mining Ordinance, which added mining as a permitted use in Zoning Districts 1A Forestry and General Use. These changes resulted in mining being a permitted use in an estimated 70% of county lands. The organization asks county residents to email the Oneida County Clerk at occlerk@oneidacountywi.gov state opposition to mining in the two zoning districts and asking for the email to be forwarded to the Planning and Development Committee. For more on OCCWA’s recent activities, visit www.occwa.org.
Sea lamprey project staff firings raise concern
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates has sounded an alarm about the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission’s Sea Lamprey Project in light of recent staff reductions. Sea lampreys feed on fishes’ blood and bodily fluids, often killing their hosts. A single lamprey can kill up to 40 pounds of fish in its lifetime, and females lay up to 100,000 eggs. Native fish lack natural defenses against the blood loss and infections caused by lamprey bites. In 2024, the GLFC secured $20 million in federal funding for lamprey control. Using lampricide, sterilization, and barriers, scientists have contained the species without harming native fish. In Lake Superior, this has fueled a trout resurgence so strong that they are now used to stock inland lakes. Recent firings of key personnel managing sea lamprey in the Great Lakes put decades of conservation progress at risk. To protect fisheries and ecosystems, it is critical to maintain funding, leadership, and strategic management of the invasive lampreys.
Book explores the wonders of the world of fishes
Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins, Jonathan Balcombe explores these questions and much more. He takes readers under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the capabilities of fishes. He upends assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian, ―in other words, much like us.