A Very Special Annual Dinner Meeting

 If you missed the Annual Lake Thompson Dinner and Meeting last night, you missed a very special night. But here are some highlights of the evening. Paul Schrieber, who has been doing most of the work for our AIS program highlighted what's been happening behind the scenes. He gave a rousing speech on further developments in our current program, which included the acquisition of a DNR grant to further "Educate and Protect" our lake. With the help of this grant, the Association provided a delicious dinner at Holiday Acres, at no charge to Lake Association members.  John Preuss, a DNR Warden from Spooner, where the program is initiated, was present and on hand to award our Youth Officers who do the inspections at the Boat Landing, a special plaque for their hard work. They cover the landing from Friday through Sunday and inspect all boats coming and going to make sure they have no Aquatic Invasive Species clinging to their boats that could be transported into Lake Thompson or another lake. This is a proactive program as we have no AIS present in our lake and hope to keep it that way for future generations.

 From left to right, DNR Warden John Preuss, Youth Officers Justice Ring, Luke Fritz, and Michael Fritz, and Paul Schreiber.

 If you see these young men with their official shirts, which will have these special badges, be prepared to let them do a thorough inspection on your boat before you enter the water. You'll notice that we now have a new logo for the Lake Association as seen above.

 This badge denotes the program we are enforcing, Clean Boats, Clean Waters.

And this one is the official State of WI badge. If you read this post, please leave a comment or check one of the boxes below, mostly so I know that this is making it's way to Lake Residents. More to follow....

Urgent Call to Action

From AIS coordinator Michele Sadauskas and Oneida Coutny Lakes and Rivers  (OCLRA)

Many articles, editorials and calls to action have circulated since this news broke.  We are providing links to two items. MilwaukeeJournalSentinel6/6/1 Wisconsin Lakes Position Paper

From: Michele Sadauskas <msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us>
Date: June 9, 2015 at 10:04:56 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: FW: EXTRA*ALERT Urgent call to action

Good morning all-

Just wanted to pass along this information from the Oneida County Lakes & Rivers Association.  Their annual meeting is coming up this Friday, June 12.   The group will be discussing the recently proposed shoreland zoning changes made by the Joint Finance Committee on May 29. 

Have a great day!

Michele Sadauskas
AIS Coordinator

_______________________________
Oneida County Courthouse, 2nd floor
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501

Phone:  715-369-7836
Fax:  715-369-7839
msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us

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Michelle Sadaukas AIS Update

From: Michele Sadauskas <msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us>
Date: June 3, 2015 at 4:30:39 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: a short AIS update :)

Good afternoon everyone-

I had some interesting items come across my desk recently, and instead of waiting to work them into a ‘newsletter’ update, I wanted to share them right away!

Clean Boats Clean Waters inspection videos.  Here is what Erin McFarlane (State AIS Outreach Specialist) has to say about these BRAND NEW videos: 

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the new Clean Boats, Clean Waters Watercraft Inspection Video Scenarios are now available to view on the CBCW website!  The seven scenarios were created to aid watercraft inspectors in learning how to have a conversation with boaters and anglers at the boat landing while conducting an inspection.  An introductory video explains the purposes of the scenarios, and the first scenario provides an example of a complete watercraft inspection from start to finish.  The following six videos focus on specific scenarios, such as how to talk to an angler leaving the landing with live bait, and begin after the inspector has introduced themselves to the boater and asked some of the initial questions from the inspection report form.  The last video discusses how to thoroughly take the prevention steps and walks through the process of cleaning off a boat.  These videos are meant to enhance the CBCW trainings, not replace them, and serve as a post-training resource for our inspectors.

CBCW Inspection Video Scenarios: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/UWEXLakes/Pages/programs/cbcw/resources.aspx

Bighead Carp found in St. Croix River.  Five Bighead Carp were captured in the St. Croix River near Stillwater, MN this past week.  This is the farthest north they have been found in the St. Croix.  To view the news release please visit our website at: www.oneidacountyais.com. 

Why plant native plants?  Check out this great article that shows just how great our native plant species are!     

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/opinion/in-your-garden-choose-plants-that-help-the-environment.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150311&nlid=30100913&tntemail0=y&_r=0

Have a great night everyone!

Michele Sadauskas
AIS Coordinator

_______________________________
Oneida County Courthouse, 2nd floor
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501

Phone:  715-369-7836    
Fax:  715-369-7839
msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us

Like Us on Facebook

Students Learning About AIS.....

Our local AIS Coordinator Michelle Sadauskas, is broadening students education with some hands on experience. To see more about this check out their blog listed in the post below......



From: Michele Sadauskas
Date: May 30, 2015 at 2:58:56 AM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: local students learn about AIS
Good morning everyone-

We had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Werner’s 5th grade Central Intermediate class this past Thursday.  Students had a chance to work on Boom Lake using AIS monitoring equipment, pull invasive Yellow Iris plants along Boom Lake while restoring the shoreline with native wetland plants (over 30 wetland native plant species were planted!), and filmed short AIS videos.

Please visit our blog to see just how much these students know about AIS, www.oneidacountyais.com  and visit the DNR’s webpage to vote for their video(s),   https://www.facebook.com/WIDNR/app_403834839671843 !  Voting is open only through tomorrow.  Let’s show our local youth our support and vote! 

Have a great weekend everyone!
 


Michele Sadauskas
AIS Coordinator

Important News from AIS Michele Saduskas

From: Michele Sadauskas <msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us>
Date: April 22, 2015 at 3:14:07 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: proposed state budget will affect local land and water departments!

Good afternoon all-

Funding for County Land Conservation Departments (this includes the Oneida County Land & Water Conservation Department and our AIS program) will be affected with the proposed 2015-2017 State budget cuts.  An estimated $815,900 is projected to be lost for local conservation projects.  If:

v  Reducing soil erosion and polluted runoff to lakes, streams, and groundwater, and

v  Addressing new threats (including aquatic and terrestrial invasive species) to water resources,

are important to you, please contact your representatives!  There is support in the legislature to restore “$1.3 million in appropriation levels for state aid to support county conservation staffing efforts”, but we need your voice to send an even louder message!

If you need to find contact information on your representative, please follow this link:   http://maps.legis.wisconsin.gov/

Thanks for your time and continued support!

Scroll down to the next post to see a sample letter.

Alert your congressman about cuts for County Land Conservation Departments

Dear Senator Tiffany,

Please restore the funding for County Land Conservation Departments that has been cut in the proposed 2015-2017 State budget.  We understand that $1.3 million in appropriation levels for state aid to support county conservation staffing efforts is cut which will result in an estimated $815,900 lost for local conservation projects, including the Oneida County Land & Water Conservation Department and  AIS program.

These conservation programs are a critical defense in the prevention of more AIS in our woods and waters.  The educational efforts and real support by the county conservation department professionals help the local volunteers that are working to keep invasives out of lakes, rivers and forests.  This is not an effort that a purely volunteer force can manage.

The economic value of clean lakes, streams and groundwater is incalculable.  A short term saving could cost huge economic and environmental damage in the long term.

Sincerely,

email

Sen.Tiffany@legis.wi.gov

ICE OUT Date and Time

The official Ice-Out for Lake Thompson

April 4 @ 3:10 pm

Reported by Kim Zambon

Lake Thompson is open for the spring, summer and fall enjoyment

The buoys that mark the rocks will be out by May 1st.