TOWER- The East Two River, Tower’s historic entryway into Lake Vermilion, was the focus of this year’s Vermilion Lake Association’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Field Day. The annual field day is a chance for St. Louis County staffers who have oversight of the county’s AIS prevention efforts and grant awards to see the projects they are funding and get a better understanding of the over 1,500 volunteer hours put in by VLA members on AIS prevention efforts in the past year.
The AIS prevention efforts by the lake association are mostly funded by grants from the county. The year, said local AIS Program Co-Leader Jeff Lovgren, the VLA received approximately $42,000 for AIS projects. Funding received varies year to year, he said, depending on the costs of projects the VLA has planned.
“We were quite willing to put together the annual field day program,” said Lovgren. “It was their idea, but we love the idea.”
Last year’s field day focused on AIS prevention efforts made with partner businesses and resorts on the lake.
Lovgren said the county has been an important partner in AIS prevention efforts on Vermilion. Funding received also pays for information banners, posters, and signs on AIS prevention, and AIS materials that are handed out by other county agencies, as well as at area resorts.
While AIS prevention and education projects target the entire lake, this year the field day focused on efforts at the East Two River, including preventing the introduction of invasive species from boats and trailers, monitoring the chemistry of the water to look at the levels of calcium which are essential for the growth of zebra mussels, and physically checking traps set in the river for the presence of immature zebra mussels.
Ryan Logan, a St. Louis County on-site wastewater manager, and Paige Melius, a St. Louis County planner, spent the morning in Tower on July 23 along with a group of active AIS volunteers. Both Logan and Melius work on AIS issues as part of their regular job duties.
The field day included a brief welcome by Tower Mayor Orlyn Kringstad, who spoke about the importance of the harbor area to Tower’s early history, and the hopes that the lake connections will bring commerce into the Tower area once again.
“We want to keep the harbor area and East Two River channel pristine and free of AIS,” he said.
Kringstad said the city hopes to limit boat access to the river to the existing launch site at the Your Boat Club marina. An additional canoe and kayak launch area is also planned in the harbor area, but they are not seen as a concern for spreading AIS.
“The East Two River is a risk area for zebra mussels,” AIS team member Craig Beveroth said, “and the calcium levels are highest when the flow is low.” This year, due to the drought, river and lake levels are both extremely low right now.
Zebra mussels can be spread lake-to-lake by boats, trailers, and fishing equipment that come from lakes with zebra mussel infestations.
While zebra mussels are a constant concern, Lovgren said there is circumstantial evidence that the lake’s water chemistry would not be suitable to zebra mussel survival.
“But we still need to do a lot of work on early detection,” he said.
Tod Van Norman, general manager of Your Boat Club’s Tower location, said they have strict protocols in place to inspect and clean any boats being launched into the river. In addition, boats owned by the boat club spend their entire summer in Vermilion, so are not tracking in outside vegetation or AIS.
“All our staff takes classes on preventing AIS,” said Norman. Your Boat Club has also invested in a hot-water, high-pressure boat washer unit.
Participants got a close-up look at the zebra mussel sampler units, still in use, that were built back in 2016 by students at the Vermilion Country School, with materials purchased by the VLA.
The field day also included a demonstration of veliger sampling done with a plankton net, as well as results from previous sampling efforts.
VLA has a major focus on preventing the spread of AIS into Lake Vermilion. They also work to inform their members about the issue through their quarterly newsletter magazine. You can learn more about the group at vermilionlakeassociation.com.