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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
by John Alden, President, TMLA
I am very pleased to let you know that the TMLA Conservation Committee has been successful in reclassifying the properties owned by TMLA Inc. These seven properties have been reclassified from “Seasonal-Residential-Recreational” to “Rural-Vacant-Land” by the Cass County Assessor’s Office.
This reclassification is very important to our members in TMLA as it means a saving of thousands of dollars per year that we pay in taxes to Cass County based on the taxable market value of these seven properties.
These properties will remain in fee title ownership with TMLA under a legal guarantee that the properties will never be developed. The Minnesota Land Trust has aided our Association in establishing a registered Conservation Easement with conditions, covenants, and restrictions that will protect these properties in perpetuity.
This is an ongoing major project of the TMLA Conservation Committee. Jim Miller, John Hartzell, Barrett Columbo, and the other committee members have donated many hours of their time to establish the protocols for conserving and protecting the shorelands of Ten Mile Lake. The next time you see these friends, please give them a word of thanks.
FISHING CHATTER
by Bob Horn, Co-Chair, Fisheries Committee
After just clearing 8” of fresh heavy snow off my driveway on April Fool’s Day, the thought of the ice leaving the lake seems a long way off . Last year we still had some ice on the opening of Walleye fishing May 10th. The average ice free day for Ten Mile Lake is around April 26th.
We hope that the water temperature has warmed into the 40s by late April of this year so the walleye spawn will have been completed in the shallows of Ten Mile. The opening day of fishing on Ten Mile has always found most anglers concentrating their efforts in Lundstrom Bay and Long’s Bay. This is probably the least difficult time of the year to catch a walleye in Ten Mile Lake.
Here are some reminders for the upcoming 2009 fishing season:
1. The new Northern Pike regulations for TML are:
― You cannot keep any Northern Pike that is 24 to 36 inches in length.
― You can only keep one over 36.
― The total limit for one day is three (at least two under 24 inches).
2. WALLEYE - the limit is still 6 per day, but only ONE walleye over 20 inches in length. (TMLA encourages you to RELEASE all large walleyes).
3. Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass season does not start until May 23rd.
4. The Crappie catch limit is 10. (Release the big ones, please).
The TMLA Fisheries Committee encourages you to take a child fishing with you, and to practice catch and release. Any violations of our fish resources can be reported 24 hours a day to TIP at 1-800-652-9093.
Note: A flier included with this Newsletter shows how to fillet a Northern Pike. Here’s hoping you have an opportunity to try to do that!
KOLDERIE FAMILY GIFT TO TMLA
by Jim Miller, Co-Chair, Conservation Committee
The Ten Mile Lake Association has received a gift of $10,000 from the Kolderie family, Ted and his sister, Kay White, longtime summer residents on the lake's northwest shore. The gift is in general support to the association, made in appreciation of the efforts by the association to help the family protect the 18-acre property at the west entrance to Flowerpot Bay.
The
property was given in 2004 to the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation, with
the understanding that it would be preserved in its natural state. Mostly
wetland, the property abuts the U.S. Forest Service property on the bay. There
is an ice ridge with tall white pines in which eagles nest.
The association has been working with the foundation and with the family to try to arrange a transfer of ownership to TMLA so that a conservation easement can be applied.
TMLA’s Conservation Committee wishes to offer special thanks to Ted Kolderie and Kay White for their generous gift to the Ten Mile Lake Association. The $10,000 gift will more than cover TMLA’s costs to place a conservation easement on the 18 acre Flowerpot Bay property if we are successful in acquiring the property from the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation (LLAWF). Tom Buss, chair of LLAWF’s Conservation Committee, has agreed to meet with members of the committee early this spring to discuss the best approach to permanently preserve the Flowerpot Bay property in its natural state.
Ted and Kay said in a note to the association: "We intended the property to be placed under conservation easement from the beginning, and were given to understand that would be done. We are disappointed the foundation has not acted to do this as promised. We hope that some day the property can come to some conservation-minded organization that will give the property the legal protection we sought".
The Kolderie family, (Ted Kolderie, Sr. and his wife, Helen), built in the fall of 1939 on land bought from the Batcheller family. Ted's colleague at Josten's, Lloyd Sundin, built next door the following year. In 1952 the two bought the land adjacent to Flower Pot Bay. They later divided the property, and the high land just west of the point is now the home of Sundin's daughter, Loydee Stonebrink.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM TEN MILE WATER LEVEL DATA?
A Letter to Tom Cox from Pat Carey, Summer Resident of Kenfield Bay, February, 2009
It seemed to me that the lake water level in the fall was getting lower these past few years. In fact, it caused me to remember the early 70’s when I had to carefully drift over the rocky shoals that guard the entrance to Kenfield Bay. I also remembered a conversation, of more than a few years ago, with Fred Martin in which he told of wading across the shoal when he was a youngster. I began to wonder if the bay might even become landlocked.
The annual reporting of Walt Kane, Tom Cox and Jay Cline on the lake level has made interesting reading, and so I emailed Tom to see what historical records might exist. He supplied me with spread-sheets of both the DNR data going back to 1973 and their TML data. From that database, I extracted the highest and the lowest values from each of the years from 1974 to 2008. Generally there were plenty of DNR measurements made throughout the years, but in 1981 and in 2008 there was only one measurement recorded for each year and so I chose to use the TML data for the 2008 year and the DNR data for 1981.
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Let me share with you what I think the numbers indicated. The highest water level can occur from mid April to late August while the low can occur from early March to early December. There does not seem to be a pattern at all, or a trend, either. Mother Nature must be capricious. Over the recorded thirty-five years, the high water values have varied slightly more than 19.5 inches, while the low water values have varied a tad more than 26.5 inches. The spread between the high and low water level, on any given year, varied from almost 4 inches to more than 12 inches. The regression analysis of the data indicated that the slope of the line equation is slightly positive. That would suggest that the water levels gradually increase with the years ahead, but ‘eyeballing’ the plot of the data suggests, to me, that the water level will begin a gradual decrease perhaps to the levels of the early 70’s. I guess I don’t think the bay will be landlocked after all, but crossing that rocky shoal will be interesting once again. |
Minimum Water Levels: Chart by Pat Carey, Winter, 2009 (Pat’s Maximum Level and Regression Analysis Charts are available from Pat or Tom) |
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT TEN MILE?
by Bruce Carlson, Chair, E & E Committee
For a variety of reasons, Ten Mile is one of the most interesting lakes in Minnesota, and because of this it is also one of the most intensely studied of the Minnesota lakes. As a result, a tremendous amount of information is available for those who want to find out more about the lake. This information covers anything from maps, physical and chemical characteristics of the water to studies on the populations of aquatic vegetation, fish, amphibians and birds. Some of these studies have been tucked away in pretty inaccessible locations, but now it is possible to find most of the major reports on line. Even critical older ones have been scanned and are available on line. What follows is a list of the most important reports and a summary of the contents.
One important item if you are interested in finding official data on Ten Mile on your own: Each lake in Minnesota has been given its own unique number. Ten Mile's number is 11-0413-00. Entering this number gives one quick access to reports on Ten Mile from several state agencies.
1. Hodgson J., and Heiskary S., 1991 Ten Mile Lake (ID Number 11-0413-00). Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Lake Assessment Program, 80 pp.
This report contains a treasure-trove of older information that had been collected about the lake, including:
A. Lake and watershed measurements - area, depth, volume of water, watershed, land use.
B. Fish populations, harvest and management.
C. Locations of official MPCA water sampling sites.
D. Oxygen and temperature profiles (older data), Secchi readings from 1974.
E. Water chemistry and water quality indicators.
F. Plankton data.
G. Management goals for the lake.
This report can be accessed on line at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/reports/lar-11-0413.pdf .
2. Final Report. Sensitive Lakeshore Survey. Ten Mile Lake (11-0413). Cass County, MN. July, 2008.
This 75-page report, which was posted on the Ten Mile Website on March 9, 2009, summarizes a great variety of studies of the flora and fauna of the lake as background for potential intra-lake zoning legislation. Ten Mile Lake and Woman Lake were chosen as "proof of concept" studies. This beautifully illustrated report contains detailed surveys of aquatic vegetation, fish, amphibians and shore-based birds and maps out locations of individual species. On the basis of this information, the authors have constructed sensitivity indices for the entire shoreline around the lake.
3. Minnesota DNR Lake Survey Reports. Every few years, a lake survey crew from the DNR performs a lake survey, which includes water characteristics and results of test-netting of fish (to determine population structure and levels). The last survey report came from a survey conducted in 2008. In addition, periodic creel census reports are assembled. One from a couple of years ago compared fishing pressure and success with similar studies conducted in the mid-1990s. The data from these reports are used for fishery management purposes. Lake survey reports are available online on the Minnesota DNR Website.
4. Carlson, B. M. 2007. Beneath the Surface. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 250 pp. This book, based on Ten Mile Lake, is designed to introduce non-specialist readers to how a lake is put together and how it functions, with information on physical and ecological characteristics of northern lakes, as well as a number of chapters on fish and fishing, loons and beavers, and other residents of the lake and the shore. [More info available on our home page.]
5. A new report on Ten Mile Lake from the MPCA is in preparation and should be publically available soon [available now]. This well-illustrated report contains a great deal of water quality data collected by the MPCA during 2008 studies as part of the Sentinel Lakes Program. More reports will be appearing in future years as other studies are completed. One study that will be initiated in 2009 is one concentrating on deep sentinel lakes.
6. Annual reports on Ten Mile water sampling conducted by Instrumental Research Inc. These reports are delivered to the E & E Committee. Anyone interested in seeing the reports should contact Bruce Carlson.
ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY NEWS
by Sharon Peterson, Chair, Adopt-A-Highway Committee
Spring has sprung — well almost! ― and as your Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator I'm happy to inform you our Adopt-A-Highway volunteers will be the most fashionable and up-to-date volunteers in 2009!! Cass County Adopt-A-Highway volunteers are required to wear Safety Vests. Starting immediately the Federal Highway Administration has issued new standards that require all workers who work within the road right-of-way, including volunteers, to wear high-visibility, ANSI compliant retro-reflective tape vests. I have these vests available; please pick them up at my home prior to doing any clean up. Also available are the yellow bags for collecting trash that may be taken to the Canister Site.
I want to thank the new volunteers that signed up at the Annual Meeting:
Ray Raetz - County 50
Mary Ann Varela - summer availability
Teri Gapinski - County 71
John Coughlin - County Rd. 6
However, we still need more volunteers. Please call to let me know you are willing to help with this important project.
Our cautions remain the same. We are advised not to pick up any suspicious materials since we are still in a high risk area for meth labs. Should you come upon any suspicious materials please let me know or call your local non-emergency Sheriff's number, 218-547-1424. Any items too large to be lifted should be reported to Cass County Highway Department at 218-547-1211; also report any items that are not normal roadside trash (i.e., large car parts, construction materials, etc.) after placing them on the road shoulder.
I ask that you pick up in your assigned area a minimum of three times during the summer, preferably soon after Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. Because of the unusual snowfall this winter and the extra visitor traffic it's advisable to add an extra clean up stroll as soon as the snow melts ― whenever that might be!!!!
Many thanks to all of you for your years of help and for continuing to serve. If you have any questions on any part of this program, please give me a call, Sharon Peterson, at 218-675-6052.
POEM - WINTER SCENE, FROM THE WINDOWby Sarah Cox
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into massive ocean waves sharp-edged, curling over at the top. The house, battered by wind, floats on a sea of snow. Drift waves stretch upward toward the eaves. |
the furious wind, a violent Moses, parts the sea, sweeps the ground bare, exposes pallid plots of frozen grass.
Next morning two intrepid rabbits venture forth to nibble at the sea floor.
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HIGHWAY 71 DEDICATED ON OCTOBER 16, 2008
by Tom Cox
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On Thursday, October 16th last fall, some 60 people gathered to celebrate the at-long-last completed reconstruction of CSAH 71. Assembling at the intersection of Batcheller Road and CSAH 71, celebrants included many Ten Milers, among them Association President John Alden, E& E Committee member Gail Becher, and Jim McGill. As a key organizer of The Committee to Preserve CSAH 71, Jim had played a pivotal role over several years in the creation of the ground-breaking Natural Preservation Route standards, thus opening the way for the project to proceed, and setting the criteria according to which CSAH 71 was ultimately reconstructed. As staff writer Gail DeBoer reported in her Walker Pilot article on October 22nd, discussions of what should be done to improve the winding, scenic road had been highly controversial from the time of their beginning as far back as the 1950s, splitting families, frosting friendships and causing tensions in churches and civic groups. Under the leadership of Jim McGill, discussions reached a turning point in the mid-1990s with the creation of the Committee to Preserve CSAH 71. Working with MN DOT, the Committee developed Natural Preservation Route (NPR) standards for the reconstruction of scenic roads to ensure their aesthetic appeal, environmental sensitivity and safety. CSAH 71 may have been the first road in the state to receive the NPR designation. In his remarks at the dedication ceremony, Jim thanked County Engineer Dave Enblom, former county commissioner Irv Ostlund and Ten Mile residents Jo Roberts, George Brandt and others for their support of efforts to both preserve and improve the roadway. In his opening remarks, Dave Enblom observed that the reconstructed road represents a compromise between the extremes of “pave and straighten” and “leave it alone,” and said that he was pleased that a local contractor, George Young, had won the bid for the project. Enblom also acknowledged the role of the engineering firm, WSB Associates and its consultant on this project, Hackensack native Ron Bray, and thanked U.S. Forest Service staff, including former Walker District Ranger Dean Hickey. Part of the scenic roadway passes through the Chippewa National Forest. Following the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, the county treated guests to hot coffee, cider and slices of cake specially decorated to commemorate the event. |
Mid-1990s Committee to Preserve CSAH 71 Photo courtesy Jim McGill L to R: Bob Nelson, Patty Larson, Jim Reents, Tate Lane, Mary Alice Ackerman, Ellie Nelson, Gail Becher, Elinor Chase, Deacon Larson, Anne McGill, Jim McGill, George Brandt, Ginny Anderson Not Pictured: Dean Hickey (USFS), Steve Chase, Jim and Mary Ackerman, Ray and Joan Raetz and Jo Roberts.
Oct. 16, 2008: Jim McGill Wields the Scissors CSAH 71 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Photo by Tom Cox L to R: WSB Staff, Jerry and George Young, Gail Becher, John Alden, Jim McGill, County Commissioner Jeff Peterson, WSB Staff, County Engineer Dave Enblom, WSB Staff, WSB Engineering Consultant Ron Bray
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