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11/15/2019 08:44AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Apparently just about every lake I fish is impaired!

lakemap
 
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Savage Voyageur
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11/15/2019 08:55AM  
Run off from farming waste and chemicals, home owners, and industry are a major factor here. The lake I live on has seen a slight improvement over the years in water quality. It’s a constant battle with invasive species, water quality with all our lakes.
 
missmolly
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11/15/2019 09:14AM  
Savage Voyageur: "Run off from farming waste and chemicals, home owners, and industry are a major factor here. The lake I live on has seen a slight improvement over the years in water quality. It’s a constant battle with invasive species, water quality with all our lakes. "


My mom lives on a lake in Florida ringed by chemically treated lawns. With Florida's growing season, it should be full of fish and they should be big, but in the half dozen times I've fished it, I caught one small bass. A lawn is a dead zone and it spreads death too.

My Maine lawn is mostly clover, which I don't cut when in flower, as it feeds bees. Then, when it goes to seed, I cut it and presto, more clover!
 
inspector13
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11/15/2019 09:45AM  

I looked at the Excel spreadsheet they prepared yesterday. Virtually all lakes and streams listed within the BWCA area were listed due to the amount of mercury in the fish. A lake in the watershed I live in was delisted for that reason. I know they have been treating rain water runoff to that lake with alum for phosphorus removal, but maybe the fish in some Metro lakes just don’t get old enough to accumulate higher amounts of mercury.

 
inspector13
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11/15/2019 10:07AM  

Sources of mercury (reason for a majority of the listings) and MPCA mercury reduction plan.

 
jillpine
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11/15/2019 10:56AM  
missmolly: "
Savage Voyageur: "Run off from farming waste and chemicals, home owners, and industry are a major factor here. The lake I live on has seen a slight improvement over the years in water quality. It’s a constant battle with invasive species, water quality with all our lakes. "



My mom lives on a lake in Florida ringed by chemically treated lawns. With Florida's growing season, it should be full of fish and they should be big, but in the half dozen times I've fished it, I caught one small bass. A lawn is a dead zone and it spreads death too.


My Maine lawn is mostly clover, which I don't cut when in flower, as it feeds bees. Then, when it goes to seed, I cut it and presto, more clover! "


Same. The formerly 1.25 acre of turf, sitting on a class ii trout stream home to brookies, is now mostly Dutch clover with a large mixture of native and non-native plants (which I am slowly trying to replace, along with the constant of buckthorn and garlic mustard control).

The city of Duluth is considering dog feces as a possible source of water pollution in the dog-dense and park-rich city. They've started a Poop Fairy campaign.
 
missmolly
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11/15/2019 12:31PM  
jillpine: "
missmolly: "
Savage Voyageur: "Run off from farming waste and chemicals, home owners, and industry are a major factor here. The lake I live on has seen a slight improvement over the years in water quality. It’s a constant battle with invasive species, water quality with all our lakes. "




My mom lives on a lake in Florida ringed by chemically treated lawns. With Florida's growing season, it should be full of fish and they should be big, but in the half dozen times I've fished it, I caught one small bass. A lawn is a dead zone and it spreads death too.



My Maine lawn is mostly clover, which I don't cut when in flower, as it feeds bees. Then, when it goes to seed, I cut it and presto, more clover! "



Same. The formerly 1.25 acre of turf, sitting on a class ii trout stream home to brookies, is now mostly Dutch clover with a large mixture of native and non-native plants (which I am slowly trying to replace, along with the constant of buckthorn and garlic mustard control).


The city of Duluth is considering dog feces as a possible source of water pollution in the dog-dense and park-rich city. They've started a Poop Fairy campaign."


Glad to know I've got ideological-kin out there. I also plant for bees and butterflies. A healthy yard literally buzzes.
 
jillpine
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11/15/2019 01:10PM  
" A healthy yard literally buzzes. "

It's really impressive to stand on a summer night and compare the differences. The neighborhood is quite neighborly. I was persuaded by another to "let it go native", and the friendly beer-side or root beer-side chats over the fences and fire rings have cultivated additional change as more neighbors see for themselves how much life returns.
 
tumblehome
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11/15/2019 01:28PM  
We need less regulation on more voluntary compliance.
 
Cedarleaf
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11/15/2019 02:12PM  
tumblehome: "We need less regulation on more voluntary compliance."


Ummm. how does that work? Really. walk me through it.
 
arm2008
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11/15/2019 02:21PM  
Cedarleaf: "
tumblehome: "We need less regulation on more voluntary compliance."



Ummm. how does that work? Really. walk me through it. "


It's a trickle down effect... rolls right downhill...
 
inspector13
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11/15/2019 03:20PM  

Maybe he was fishing for predilections with abstruseness as bait.

 
Bushpilot
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11/15/2019 04:45PM  
More people = more pollution. No one can live on this earth without causing environmental damage. One of several reason I choose not to have children. The answer is simple.

In the past wars and plagues have fixed this. The way I see this planet can only support and sustain about 2 billion people. We have just short of 8 billion now.

The planet will be just fine, however we might be on a path to make humans an extinct species.
 
missmolly
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11/15/2019 05:55PM  
jillpine: ""
A healthy yard literally buzzes. "


It's really impressive to stand on a summer night and compare the differences. The neighborhood is quite neighborly. I was persuaded by another to "let it go native", and the friendly beer-side or root beer-side chats over the fences and fire rings have cultivated additional change as more neighbors see for themselves how much life returns. "

Jill, I just emailed you a recently published article about rebooting life where I live. Look for an email with the subject line, "from missmolly"
 
missmolly
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11/15/2019 05:58PM  
Bushpilot: "More people = more pollution. No one can live on this earth without causing environmental damage. One of several reason I choose not to have children. The answer is simple.


In the past wars and plagues have fixed this. The way I see this planet can only support and sustain about 2 billion people. We have just short of 8 billion now.


The planet will be just fine, however we might be on a path to make humans an extinct species."


I don't think we'll go extinct, but our comeuppance has begun. Cali burns while Venice drowns. Houston has 500-year floods every other year and the Great Plains became a Great Lake last spring.
 
11/16/2019 09:57AM  
For anyone interested in learning more about how we impact out lakes, I certainly recommend this book. Its a very engaging read. For Love of Lakes by Darby Nelson
 
11/16/2019 10:05AM  
missmolly:
It's really impressive to stand on a summer night and compare the differences. The neighborhood is quite neighborly. I was persuaded by another to "let it go native", and the friendly beer-side or root beer-side chats over the fences and fire rings have cultivated additional change as more neighbors see for themselves how much life returns."


I have 350 feet of shoreline on a lake north of Detroit Lakes. I planted all that to Native Grasses, I even got the federal government to help me and it was all free. Now I do not have to mow that, I have been letting those native plants encroach up hill and take over my entire lower lawn down by the lake.
 
tumblehome
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11/16/2019 12:34PM  
It was absurd for me to write that we need less regulation and more voluntary compliance. Yet the executive branch of government is pushing this methodology of environmental protection

I wanted people to see how ridiculous this is and yet there is a population of our country that truly embraces the current executive branch regardless of the agenda.

It just makes me sad.
Tom
 
11/16/2019 06:04PM  
Bushpilot: "More people = more pollution. No one can live on this earth without causing environmental damage. One of several reason I choose not to have children. The answer is simple.


In the past wars and plagues have fixed this. The way I see this planet can only support and sustain about 2 billion people. We have just short of 8 billion now.


The planet will be just fine, however we might be on a path to make humans an extinct species."


That's just plain common sense. The idea of "perpetual growth", whether it's the human population, economy,, development, or fiscal borrowing is the ideology of the cancer cell.
 
11/16/2019 06:05PM  
egknuti: "Apparently just about every lake I fish is impaired!

lakemap "


THe water is fine to drink or recreate in, but mercury bio-accumulates up the food chain, and Canadian Shield Lakes have the water chemistry that is susceptible to this. You find the same problem hundreds of miles to the north in Canada... That mercury from India, Indiana, or Duluth travels far.
 
11/17/2019 01:19PM  
missmolly: "
Savage Voyageur: "Run off from farming waste and chemicals, home owners, and industry are a major factor here. The lake I live on has seen a slight improvement over the years in water quality. It’s a constant battle with invasive species, water quality with all our lakes. "



My mom lives on a lake in Florida ringed by chemically treated lawns. With Florida's growing season, it should be full of fish and they should be big, but in the half dozen times I've fished it, I caught one small bass. A lawn is a dead zone and it spreads death too.


My Maine lawn is mostly clover, which I don't cut when in flower, as it feeds bees. Then, when it goes to seed, I cut it and presto, more clover! "

My bee keeper friends love white clover for their honey bees. Nice and sweet honey.
 
11/17/2019 01:21PM  
Bushpilot: "More people = more pollution. No one can live on this earth without causing environmental damage. One of several reason I choose not to have children. The answer is simple.


In the past wars and plagues have fixed this. The way I see this planet can only support and sustain about 2 billion people. We have just short of 8 billion now.


The planet will be just fine, however we might be on a path to make humans an extinct species."


Very very true. Being from Brainerd area all my long life. I remember many if not most of the lakes in my area had undeveloped shoreline. Now most lakes are almost completely developed, also with development(a poor word description) your shoreline is altered lakeward with aquatic plants like bulrush removed. Spawning areas are disrupted etc.

A old saying by Biologists: A lake takes on the environmental characteristics of its surroundings. Well houses,manicured lawns docks,swimming areas etc.. For many fish the first 4 feet of depth around a lake is the most important. Its a wonder how fish have done as well as they do. Many species like black crappie have paid the price.
 
Bushpilot
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11/17/2019 04:07PM  
Pinetree: "


Very very true. Being from Brainerd area all my long life. I remember many if not most of the lakes in my area had undeveloped shoreline. Now most lakes are almost completely developed, also with development(a poor word description) your shoreline is altered lakeward with aquatic plants like bulrush removed. Spawning areas are disrupted etc.


A old saying by Biologists: A lake takes on the environmental characteristics of its surroundings. Well houses,manicured lawns docks,swimming areas etc.. For many fish the first 4 feet of depth around a lake is the most important. Its a wonder how fish have done as well as they do. Many species like black crappie have paid the price."


Good points about all the building on lake shores. Many of these are second homes. And many of the people cause other environmental problems by traveling around the world. I guess there are no laws on how much damage one can do to this planet. I gets me when they tell other people they have to change to save the planet, than hop on a jet to Europe. Or hop in a car and go the their lake home.

PS I would like to add I do my add share of carbon emissions. I am sure it is way less than your typical US family, yet way more than the worlds average. I will google carbon emissions by country.
 
11/17/2019 08:23PM  
Amen.
 
11/17/2019 08:26PM  
Bushpilot: "
Pinetree: "



Very very true. Being from Brainerd area all my long life. I remember many if not most of the lakes in my area had undeveloped shoreline. Now most lakes are almost completely developed, also with development(a poor word description) your shoreline is altered lakeward with aquatic plants like bulrush removed. Spawning areas are disrupted etc.



A old saying by Biologists: A lake takes on the environmental characteristics of its surroundings. Well houses,manicured lawns docks,swimming areas etc.. For many fish the first 4 feet of depth around a lake is the most important. Its a wonder how fish have done as well as they do. Many species like black crappie have paid the price."



Good points about all the building on lake shores. Many of these are second homes. And many of the people cause other environmental problems by traveling around the world. I guess there are no laws on how much damage one can do to this planet. I gets me when they tell other people they have to change to save the planet, than hop on a jet to Europe. Or hop in a car and go the their lake home."


I seen on lakeshore over development or work in lake beds. They are all for protecting the lake but just not their lot.
After saying that there is many lake shore associations are doing a great job of working together and by peer pressure do what is proper on your lake lot. No reason for some rich folks to have 300 feet of manicured grass down to the shoreline with no buffer.

It is a change of subject,but it just goes to show you the amount of money out there. Lake homes on like Whitefish lake north of Brainerd people want the lot and will bulldoze the $250,000 dollar home down and I have heard up to 1 million dollar homes flatten so they could build there mansion. I have also seen some of these homes like August 1 they will close there lake home for the year and take there dock out-they leave for the year to their next vacation home. Some of these will violate shoreline ordinances and just pay the fine and get what they want. They are trying, if they can to make them restore it. Many times you can't.

 
missmolly
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11/17/2019 09:05PM  
Bushpilot: "
Pinetree: "



Very very true. Being from Brainerd area all my long life. I remember many if not most of the lakes in my area had undeveloped shoreline. Now most lakes are almost completely developed, also with development(a poor word description) your shoreline is altered lakeward with aquatic plants like bulrush removed. Spawning areas are disrupted etc.



A old saying by Biologists: A lake takes on the environmental characteristics of its surroundings. Well houses,manicured lawns docks,swimming areas etc.. For many fish the first 4 feet of depth around a lake is the most important. Its a wonder how fish have done as well as they do. Many species like black crappie have paid the price."



Good points about all the building on lake shores. Many of these are second homes. And many of the people cause other environmental problems by traveling around the world. I guess there are no laws on how much damage one can do to this planet. I gets me when they tell other people they have to change to save the planet, than hop on a jet to Europe. Or hop in a car and go the their lake home."


One Norwegian paddler, when I asked him where he'd like to paddle someday, said, "Anywhere warm, but that won't happen because I don't want to burn jet fuel to get there."

I've planted hundreds of trees and propagate moss. Moss is a carbon sponge.

I have a couple acres of moss and am also planting tall carbon sponges, like white oaks and chestnuts.
 
11/19/2019 08:35AM  
Pretty much EVERY environmental problem is the result of too many people. Period.

The idiotic thing is that the wonders of modern medicine and hygiene radically reduced death rates, world-wide, but birth rates didn't go down enough to offset the increased number of people surviving into adulthood.

Population dynamics, and the laws of mathematics, apply to ALL living things, including people.
 
missmolly
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11/19/2019 09:33AM  
arctic: "Pretty much EVERY environmental problem is the result of too many people. Period.


The idiotic thing is that the wonders of modern medicine and hygiene radically reduced death rates, world-wide, but birth rates didn't go down enough to offset the increased number of people surviving into adulthood.


Population dynamics, and the laws of mathematics, apply to ALL living things, including people. "


Have you read, "Species"? Its author argues that, largely due to fire, which reduced the size of our intestines and thereby freed energy to increase the size of our brains, enabling language, we did a quantum leap into dominance. The author explained that whereas a lion cub might be born that's slightly faster than its ancestors, nature counterbalances that dominance when the slightly faster antelope survives and reproduces its speed, thus restoring balance. That didn't happen with us, as we've cleared the table of competition via extinction, but the counterbalancing is coming as we gobble the oceans' creatures (With sideways sonar, there's no where to hide anymore. See ya, cod. See ya, tuna. See ya, us.) and everything else.
 
11/19/2019 03:17PM  
sorry, misread Tumblehome's post.
 
11/19/2019 03:20PM  
missmolly: "
arctic: "Pretty much EVERY environmental problem is the result of too many people. Period.



The idiotic thing is that the wonders of modern medicine and hygiene radically reduced death rates, world-wide, but birth rates didn't go down enough to offset the increased number of people surviving into adulthood.



Population dynamics, and the laws of mathematics, apply to ALL living things, including people. "



Have you read, "Species"? Its author argues that, largely due to fire, which reduced the size of our intestines and thereby freed energy to increase the size of our brains, enabling language, we did a quantum leap into dominance. The author explained that whereas a lion cub might be born that's slightly faster than its ancestors, nature counterbalances that dominance when the slightly faster antelope survives and reproduces its speed, thus restoring balance. That didn't happen with us, as we've cleared the table of competition via extinction, but the counterbalancing is coming as we gobble the oceans' creatures (With sideways sonar, there's no where to hide anymore. See ya, cod. See ya, tuna. See ya, us.) and everything else. "


I have read "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari and that book says pretty much the same thing ;)
Everyone should read that book.
 
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