Our meeting this summer will be in a new venue, Union Congregational Church, UCC, just beyond the Community Center and the new Senior Class Retirement Center and across from the ball field on East Lake Avenue in Hackensack .

Committee display tables will be open and socializing will begin, with coffee and lemonade, at 9:30 A.M.   The meeting will begin promptly at 10:00 .

Conservation Easements (CEs) are a means of protecting land against unwanted future development and, in some instances, of obtaining a tax advantage.  As such, CEs hold special interest for Ten Milers who want both to guard their property against unwanted development and to protect the lake and its environs over the long term.

A CE is a legally recorded agreement by which land owners voluntarily restrict use of their lands.  A land owner conveys the CE to, for instance, the MLT, and retains title to the property, the right to sell it, the right to restrict public access and the right to deed it to whomever the land owner chooses. But by this same instrument a landowner typically restricts or eliminates rights to future development, thus ensuring that the property remains in a predetermined condition in perpetuity, regardless of who its future owners may be.

Another advantage of a CE is that under certain conditions, donors may become eligible for income, estate and property tax benefits. Recent tax legis-lation includes three charitable-contribution provisions designed to encourage conservation easements during approximately a two year period. These new provisions are effective for 2006 and 2007 for most individuals.

A TMLA Conservation Committee is presently working with Mr. Fitzgerald to place a CE on TMLA-owned properties on and near Ten Mile.  Once this CE is in place later this year, the Association will have a model CE on which individual property-owners can base their own easements if they wish.  The TMLA easement will be assigned to MLT.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s illustrated presentation at our Annual Meeting August 4^th will tell the story of the Minnesota Land Trust and its heartening environ-mental successes, and provide information of vital interest to all Ten Milers interested in protecting and preserving Ten Mile’s environment and quality of life.

Ten Mile Lake - A Fire-Fighting Resource

Photos by Brad Putney, 2007

From the President's Desk

By Al Griggs, TMLA President

Report of the Environment and Ecology Commitee

by Bruce Carlson, Chair

2006 LAKE SAMPLING REPORT - Since the E & E report was sent out for the Spring TMLA Newsletter, we have received the year-end report from Instrumental Research Inc. for lake water sampling for 2006. The good news is that the various measures of lake quality showed an almost uniform improvement during 2006. The more sobering news is that the seeming improvement may be closely related to the dry season of 2006 and the corresponding reduction in nutrients entering the lake. This is a phenomenon that occurred in most of the lakes of our region last summer. Nevertheless, things keep looking good for Ten Mile, and there is no indication of deterioration in water quality in the main lake. However, a couple of the bays, namely Flowerpot and Robinson's Bays show indications of poorer water quality over the past decade.

One of the main concerns of the E & E Committee is to monitor nutrients entering the lake, because these are the basis for a lowering of water quality. This is why we are  so vigilant about maintaining the quality of our septic systems; these are major potential polluters of a lake. This is also why we discourage the use of lawn fertilizers in lots around the lake, because what makes grass grow well also makes algae and plants grow when the fertilizer enters the lake.

 Because Ten Mile has no inlet stream, our lake water comes from springs, rainwater and various swamps around the periphery (mainly along the west side) that drain into the lake. For more than a decade, we have monitored a number of sites where wetlands drain into the lake. Unfortunately, with the paving of highway #71 this summer, all of these sites will have changed, and a long-term database will be permanently altered. One of the future tasks of the E & E Committee will be to determine where wetlands drain into the lake after highway construction is completed. It is hard to say at present whether drainage of swamp nutrients into the lake will be worse or better in the future. All we know now is that it will be different.

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The Emerald Ash Borer -  A New Pest to Pay Attention To

By Marty McCleery

 (Information provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Plan Protection Division)

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Fishing Chatter

By Bob Horn, Chair, Fisheries Committee

Don't be a Pain in the Boat!

By Don Harris, Chair, Lake Safety Committee

The Lake Safety Committee would like to offer two reminders that will make Ten Mile Lake safer for all of us:

1. AVOID THE "CIRCLE OF DEATH!"

Every year, somewhere in Minnesota injuries and deaths occur when boat operators let go of the steering wheel or outboard steering handle while the boat is moving. Both conditions can occur when boat operators are steering in tight circles trying to make "water moguls" for tubers to bounce over for a big lift. A phenomenon called steering torque forces the un-helmed motor to slam to the left, causing the boat to swerve sharply to the right, and throwing the operator and any passengers into the water.

The boat continues to travel in an ever-tightening circle, and may return to strike the victim(s) in the water, with the potential to inflict massive propeller injuries. Thus the term, "Circle of Death." The solution?

a. Let the waves and boat wakes provide sufficient excitement for tubers.

b. Never let go of the steering mechanism while the boat is in motion.

Note that driving a boat in tight circles injures the lake as well, since it tends to scour the floor of the lake and add to the turbidity of the water.

An additional note: If you observe a runaway boat, DO NOT TRY TO CAPTURE THE BOAT because there may be victims in the water. If possible, get the victims out of the way and CALL 911. The Cass County Sheriff's Water, Boat, and Safety Officers are trained with techniques on how to capture runaway boats in the "Circle of Death."

2. RED STOP!

 Another source of an increasing number of injuries and maiming occurs when skiers, tubers, or wake-boarders attempt to re-board or de-board a boat when the motor, left idling, suddenly slips into gear. A major statewide program is underway to encourage boat operators to TURN OFF THE MOTOR whenever someone is in the water near the boat.

At the annual TMLA meeting, the Lake Safety Committee will have a supply of "RED STOP" stickers. We encourage everyone to mount a sticker on any motored boat, to remind the operator to cut the motor fully off when picking up a passenger from the water. If you watch the six o'clock news on KARE 11 TV, you can observe some of the victims that have been seriously injured by tow ropes and propellers when the boat was in neutral with the motor still running. Let's not have any Ten-Milers on those newscasts! STOP THE MOTOR!

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Jurassic Park - Alive and Well in Ten Mile Lake

by Jim Brandt

One evening last summer a friend from St. Louis and I were fishing for bass on Ten Mile Lake. We found a spot where they were hitting frequently, and I was fortunate enough to catch one, but observing Mark reel in one after another was like watching one of those anglers on TV. The only things missing were sponsor patches on his jacket and the 225 HP trolling motor.

With little break in the action, one of Mark’s strikes was more ferocious than the others. The water was boiling, and Mark’s pole was bent like the St. Louis Arch. The fish then dove for the weeds and Mark found himself in the middle of a mighty struggle, but eventually he was able to land the pugnacious rascal. While untangling the weeds from the fish, Mark was wondering what strange thing he had pulled up from the depths of the lake. I quickly ruled out a northern pike, and it was too big and long for a largemouth in Ten Mile Lake. It had the coloring of a walleye, but no, it wasn’t a walleye either, and it had noticeably and unusually large teeth for a fish ― more like a small dinosaur’s.

In summers of yore, I used to see ― particularly in one of the bay areas of Ten Mile ― a big fish swimming in a snake-like motion with just its head above water. It appeared to be eating whatever it could find on the surface. I thought it was a huge northern pike, so as opportunity presented itself, I would try to catch it. Once I thought I had, but alas, it took my Hula-Popper right off the end of the line. I attributed the all too familiar “it got away” to the faulty knot this poor fisherman had tied.

Well, sometime along the way, someone told me that the fish I was seeing was a Dogfish, but I still didn’t know how big a fish it was, how it looked, or what purpose it served in the aquatic world. As Mark and I peered at his fish that night, it seemed possible he had caught a Dogfish.

Mark had the curiosity to look up “Dogfish” on the web, so we thought that what we learned may be of interest to other Ten-Mile-lakers. Another name for the fish is “Bowfin,” which is an order of primitive, ray-finned fish. The remains of Bowfins have been found in Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. The Bowfin still extant in Ten Mile Lake exist in their current form almost unchanged as the species existed while the great dinosaurs roamed the earth!

In the accompanying picture of Mark and his fish, reptilian features are especially noticeable from the head. The most distinctive feature of a Bowfin is the very long dorsal fin which runs from mid-back to the base of the tail and consists of forty-five to fifty rays. In the picture, this fin is only partially visible because most of it is lying down. Also not visible because it is underneath Mark’s right hand glove is a single-lobe caudal fin.

When a Bowfin does not get enough oxygen, it rises to the surface and gulps air into its swim bladder, which is lined with blood vessels and can serve much as a lung does. Perhaps this is what the fish were doing when I saw them in the past and thought they were top-water feeding.

The Bowfin can grow to over three feet in length and weigh almost fifteen and a half pounds. It is not very good eating for fish connoisseurs, and it is scorned by sportsmen because of its voracious appetite for game fish and pan fish. So it is really a “dog” of a fish, but what can we expect from a large fish with big teeth whose ancestors lived with the Tyrannosaurus Rex?

(Picture is of Jim Brandt's friend Mark holding the Bowfin)

Editor’s Note: If you google “bowfin” you will find an essay by Dr. Alan Richmond, Biology Department, University of Massachusetts. The Bowfin, amia calva, belongs to the family amiidae, which once contained many species and was widely distributed around the globe. Only the one species remains, and it is restricted to North America, covering the majority of the Mississippi basin and extending east along the Gulf Coast and extending north up the Atlantic Coast and into the Delaware River. Amia , the Bowfin, migrated east through the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River basin into Lake Champlain .

 “Bowfins seem to prefer slow sluggish backwaters where they feed on other fishes and invertebrates. In the spring, they breed in weed beds. Males build circular nests from fifteen inches to about three feet in diameter. Unlike nests of sunfish or bass where the male clears a circular depression in the sand, Amia males often build nests in fibrous root mats, clearing away stems and leaves. One male may breed with two or three females. After breeding he continues to guard the nest until the young hatch eight to ten days after deposition. Baby Amia swim in schools and are protected by the male. They retain this schooling behavior until they are about four inches long.” (From essay by Dr. Richmond.)

(Picture of Bowfin from Richmond Essay)

The Loon Journal

The History Page - Gone But Not Forgotten

By Kim Abraham Moe, History Committee