The Blueberry Lake Association deserved this nomination for the hard work and effort they have invested in protecting and restoring Blueberry Lake, “a local area lake”.
They are well justified for this recognition because when the lake association members realized they had a serious issue with the presence of curly leaf pondweed in their lake, they did not wait for assistance but actively pursued a solution. They became involved, mobilizing everyone on the lake and in the local community. They worked hard to network through the Wadena SWCD, the Wadena County Local Water Plan, the Initiative Foundation, MN Waters, through local government units and through state agencies such as the DNR to find the best solution for their problem. With the perseverance of the lake association officers and members, they aggressively increased their treatment acre goals yearly until they were able to do a whole lake treatment for the infested acres in 2007. They remain conscious of the environmental impact of the presence of the curly leaf and take steps to monitor and insure success of treatment. They take advantage of education events to make others knowledgeable about the process they have worked through to get to the stage they are at in treating curly leaf pondweed. They continue to raise awareness on how aquatic invasive species (AIS) can be spread and become a problem. The Wadena SWCD is proud of all they have accomplished in only a few years.
