Our AIS Group of Jr. Officers

This summers group of AIS Jr. Officers for Lake Thompson ... Left to Right Justice Ring, Paul Schrieber, Luke Fritz and Mike Fritz. Please notice the new tent for which we received this years funding . It has been placed at the landing so we are now a very important presence. It really sends a message that we are committed to keeping the Lake clean and free of Aquatic Invasive Species and it gives the boys a little shade from the sun. Here's a few stats from last year to give you an idea of what the inspection program has been doing. There were 438 boats checked at the Landing and direct contact with over a 1000 individuals. There are also many more inspections conducted at Holiday Acres resort thanks to the Zambons and other helpers. In total we exceeded 400 hours of inspection which ranks our efforts in the top 1 % of all the lakes in Wisconsin according to the Department of National Resources. HATS OFF TO THIS GROUP who helped make that possible. It is uncertain if the grant program will continue through next year so there may be an additional need for member contributions. But for now lets CELEBRATE what's been accomplished here!

Annual Summer Appreciation Dinner Reminder

Don't forget to make a reservation for dinner if you haven't done already. Our AIS program has really taken off,  thanks to the hard work of Paul Screiber. He has garnered grants from the state allowing us to pay volunteers (our Jr. Conservation officers) to monitor our landing and guard against invasive species to keep our lake clean  and pristine. We hope to see many of you there!  Click the images to enlarge.

Annual Christmas Dinner on Lake Thompson

And a good time was had by all! This photo was taken at the Lake Thompson Annual Dinner at Holiday Acres. The dinner was held at the beginning of Dec. and we had a pretty good turnout. We ate in the Gallery which, as you can see was beautifully decorated and very festive. Our head AIS man Paul Schrieber had some good things to say about this years volunteer group and  how well the lake was monitored this past summer. In fact you might be surprised about our status as compared to the rest of the state. And we'll have more about that a little later, but I think you can be very proud to live on  such a well-monitored lake!  And as always a big thank you to Paul for all his hard work to help bring this about. If you see him out and about be sure to give him your thanks! Click on the photo to enlarge.

AIS update from Michelle Saduskas

From: Michele Sadauskas <msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us>
Date: September 25, 2015 at 1:30:00 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: ais update 9-25-15

Good afternoon everyone-

Here are a few, brand new,  AIS monitoring reports I wanted to share with the group.  Please find reports for Sureshot, Thompson, Alva, Booth, and Killarney here:   http://www.oneidacountyais.com/lake-monitoring-reports.html .

Additionally, I just received a season monitoring report from the WDNR.   I have attached that document.  A number of lakes had new findings of narrow-leaf cattail and aquatic forget-me-not, both invasive species.  Please find information on these two invasives on page 3 of the attached document.

Have a great weekend everyone!     

A New Message from AIS Coordinator Michele Saudauskas

This will be the first installment and I will post more later......

From: Michele Sadauskas <msadauskas@co.oneida.wi.us>
Date: September 1, 2015 at 2:08:07 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: FW: Shoreland Zoning and Local Control

Good afternoon everyone!

The below email (with 2 attachments) just came across my desk, and I thought it might be of interest to many Oneida County lake associations.  If you have questions and/or comments please direct those to:  John Richter, AJR5@aol.com. 

Have a great day!

August 20, 2015

To:  Vilas County Lake Association Officers

From:  John Richter, President, Plum Lake Association

We have begun a last minute effort to join forces with like-minded lake associations to seek relief from the changes to shoreland zoning the state recently inserted in the budget.   These changes remove county control of some of the most critical zoning issues and put the State in control with “one size fits all” lesser standards that constitute a very real threat to our lakes.  

One of the most egregious changes is reduction of shoreline frontage requirements to the state minimum.  It will adversely affect Plum and many other lakes with 150, 200, and greater frontage requirements (some as great as 400’), reducing them to 100 front feet.  The reason for quick action on this issue is that, once the zoning departments get the final “directive” from DNR, they will have to begin handling re-platting requests from owners selling out and from developers.  What I have heard is that there will be a flood of requests once the directive is received and when these requests are approved, they are good forever.  If the rule is changed back by new legislation later, they will be still be effective - a legal nonconforming lot at 100 ft.  Re-platting, as I understand it, cannot be reversed.  We have parcels in that situation on Plum, thus our concern.  Many other lakes are in the same boat.  

The reason for greater minimum lake frontage standards is founded in science for the protection of our lakes to maintain water quality and property value.  It was not controversial and not a political issue.  I think we all felt the county had done a very good job setting the standards some 20 years ago.  

All of the rest of this new law can be revisited by new legislation and we have time to consider each issue.  For the shoreline frontage issue, it will be too late - the damage will be done and irreversible, so immediate action on this issue is required.

I have found almost universal agreement in my conversations with other lake association officers on this point; that letting the State set one size fits all standards and take zoning power away from the county makes no sense and is antithetical to the mantra of local control being best.  From a republican legislature, 520 was a big surprise.

We have been asked, by a former senate majority leader (a republican), “How many lake associations are with you?"  They are pursuing remedial legislation at this time on our behalf.  My mission was to contact as many as I could to see if they were generally in favor of returning zoning authority to the county.  To date, I have not found any that were not in favor.  We are in the process of preparing an outline of remedial legislation that will be available shortly.  

We expect to have a broad base of Bipartisan support for this bill.

 We have signed a letter of engagement with a law firm and engaged a public affairs consultant with broad experience in this area and will need to fund the retainer very soon.  We have begun our effort to get commitments of donations from associations and individuals to this effort.  Our efforts will result in return of shoreland zoning authority to each county, insuring local control and a return to our previous regulations that were not controversial or political and protected our lakes and our property values.

We are now tasked with collecting donations for the legal and lobbying retainers.  The escrow account has been set up and donations will be made to through our 501c3 tax-exempt entity.  I will get a letter out with instructions for mailing shortly.  

Overall, the goal is to return control of shoreland zoning to the County, where it belongs and to stop implementation of reduced lakefront minimum lot sizes until our new legislation is effective.  We are the last line of defense.  All of the others lines have been penetrated and we are now called on to step up and defend our lakes.  I know that none of us ever expected to be in this spot, but we are and we need to act now.  Good luck with your groups.  Keep me advised of your progress, as I will you.

I am hoping you will step up.  I need to know as soon as possible if I can add your association and members to our collective voice in opposition to the budget amendment and to join our effort to correct it. 

Sincerely

Plum Lake Association

A. John Richter, President

ajr5@aol.com

Black Bear on Circle Dr.

Jim Auchter sent me this photo recently along with an account of how he came by this photo...

Hi Kathy.  I looked at the Lake Association web site and see a lot of activity has been posted.  Great!  Which made me think I should share the attached photo of a bear in our yard on Sunday, July 12^th at about 5:15PM.  More interesting, it was starting to climb a tree with a hummingbird feeder about 5 feet from the chair my wife, Sue, was sitting in!  Yes, literally.  Sue was unaware of the bear as she was relaxing looking at the lake until she heard the claws on the tree and turned to see what was causing the noise!  Fortunately, when she turned, the bear was as startled as Sue and jumped from the tree and started to climb a second tree about four feet further.  Sue calmly (until in the house) got up and walked into the house.  I grabbed my camera and was able to get a picture as it started to leave.  Sue is very happy I got a photo of it as she said nobody would believe her story!  And she said she is not usually that oblivious……

Thanks for the photo and the story Jim. The Auchters place is on Circle Dr. so if you are in the area please be alert. If you've noticed that your bird feeders have been torn down or garbage has been scattered, you might want to take precautions. According to Mark Naniot , Wildlife Rehab biologist at Wild Instincts right here in Rhinelander, bears can be lazy by nature and will stay in an area if they continue to find things to eat. It is a good idea to bring in bird feeders at night for at least 2 weeks, as then bears will try another path.  

Keep those photos coming!

Your Board at Work....

Sandy Wickman of the DNR was at the Boat Landing today  Thursday July 16. 

She brought with her 2 large plants that contained 1000 beetles/larvae that feed on the invasive plant Purple Loosestrife. These plants were placed next to the landing where some has been spotted and hopefully they will happily eat their fill of them.

Sandy is at the Shoreline pulling up some of the plants with Paul Schreiber and Frosty Smith looking on . Below Frosty is holding a handful of the invasive species called Purple Loosetrife

 Sandy Wickman and helper with the 2 large plants she brought.

 A close up of the small bugs that will be attacking these invasive species.

Board Members Paul Schreiber, Bob Rossi, Frosty Smith, and Sandy Wickman from the DNR and Kathy Furda (in car). Plenty of people to check out the Pontoon Boat waiting to enter the lake. Thanks to Betsy Schreiber for the photos.