Welcome   to   the

Michigan  Lake  and  Stream  Associations

Region   2   

Region  2  County  Directors

BRANCH  COUNTY Position Vacant     CALHOUN  COUNTY Durwood  Booher 462 Tullis Lane Battle Creek, MI 49017 616-965-1746

HILLSDALE  COUNTY William  Lee 4300 W. Bacon Road Hillsdale, MI 49242 517-437-4949   JACKSON  COUNTY Donald  Miller 1200 Clear Lake Road Grass Lake, MI 49240 734-475-9647

LENAWEE  COUNTY Arlen  Miller 6090  Dexter  Lane Manitou Beach, MI 49253 517-547-6426

" A  lake  is  the  landscape's  most   beautiful  and   expressive feature. It  is  earth's eye: looking  into    which  the  beholder  measures  the depth  of  his   own  nature."             Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

Our  Mission Michigan Lake and Stream Associations Region 2 encompasses five of the most lake inundated counties in  the  state of  Michigan.  Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson and  Lenawee counties are  graced with  over  140  inland  lakes of  fifty acres or more. These freshwater gems and their parent  watersheds  provide an  immense  supply of  freshwater, habitat for  a great diversity of plants  and   animals  as   well   as   a  unique   and   attractive   natural  environment  that   has driven  and  defined  social  and  economic  activity  in  this  region  for  thousands  of   years... Therefore,   the   primary   mission   of   the   Michigan   Lake  and   Stream   Associations  in  Region   2  is   to  foster  greater   awareness,   appreciation  and  stewardship  of  our  inland lakes  and  streams  so   that   we   may   preserve   and   protect  these  awesome  freshwater  resources  for  future  generations...   Big Wolf  Lake,  Napoleon Township, Jackson County

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing

Swimming

Michigan's  Inland  Lakes and Streams...   ours  to  preserve  and  protect !

Thanks  to  our  Region  2  member  associations  for  their  continuing  support  of  the Michigan  Lakes  and  Stream  Associations  in  our  lake  and  stream  rich  Region  2 !!!

Region  2  News

Cooperative  Lakes  Monitoring  Program (CLMP)      Its  time  again  to  start  thinking  about  enrolling  your  lake  (be  it  the  lake  you      live  on  and / or  a   lake  you  care  about)  in  the  Cooperative  Lakes  Monitoring      Program  for  the  2006  spring / summer  seasons.  CLMP  provides an excellent and      unique opportunity  to perform  a  basic  water  quality  check-up  on your lake with      just  a  little   training   and  out- of - pocket  expense  for  your  association  or  for      anyone  to  "Adopt - a - Lake" of  their  choosing.   In  a   state  blessed  with  over       11,000  lakes  and   a   State  of   Michigan   without   ample   resources  to  conduct      water   quality   testing    on    even    a   small   percentage  of   these  lakes, CLMP       provides  an  opportunity  for   riparians   and  /  or   lake   stakeholders  to  exhibit       stewardship   and   responsibility   toward    these     priceless    freshwater    gems,      receive   free   training   on    monitoring    procedures    as    well   as   provides  a      "excuse"  to  venture   on    to    your   lake   to   conduct   monitoring   procedures      that   most   participants   describe  as  fun.      To  learn  more  about the Cooperative Lakes  Monitoring  Program or  to download      a   printable  CLMP  registration  form   for   this  years   program,   click    on    the      Cooperative   Monitoring  Program  (CMP)  logo below.  To  learn  more about  the      exciting   new  CLMP  collaborative   partnership   involving   the   Michigan  Lake      and   Stream  Associations,   Michigan   Department   of   Environmental   Quality,      the  Great  Lake   Commission  and   Michigan   State  University  Department  of        Wildlife  and  Fisheries,  click  on  the Michigan Clean Water Corps  logo  below.

Devils  and   Round  Lakes , Lenawee County, Michigan Browse  the  Lakes  Preservation  League  Website... Photo  downloaded  from  MSU  Institute  of  Water  Research Watershed  Mapping  Feature

Contribute  Information  to  our  Region  2  Web Page !!! This  web  page  will  be  a continuous work in progress...we hope you will e-mail or call us with news about  your  lake or association. We would greatly appreciate hearing from you in regards to  your  association's  plans  or  on-going  lake  and  stream  projects , articles regarding  your  lake that  have appeared  in  your  local newspaper  or  any  other  information  that  you  think   might  fit  nicely  in  the  context  of  the  Region  2  web  page.  Please  contact   Scott  Brown  at:   scottb52@direcway.com or  call    517.914.1684 We  look  forward  to  hearing  from  our  friends  and  supporters  in  Region  2 !

Wamplers and  Mud  Lakes, Jackson  and  Lenawee  Counties, Michigan Photo  downloaded  from  MSU  Institute  of  Water  Research Watershed  Mapping  Feature

The  Keys  to  Healthy  Lakes  and  Streams

1.  Preserve  and  Protect  Our  Wetlands Wetlands  perform  a   plethora  of  natural  functions that are indispensable to maintaining water quality in  our  lakes and  streams  as  well  as  providing  viable  habitat for amphibians, fish and birds.  To  learn  more  about  the  critical  role  of  wetlands  in  preserving  and  protecting  our   awesome  freshwater  resources,    browse  the   following   valuable   websites:    Ducks  Unlimited   Wetlands  Page Center  for  Watershed  Protection

 

2.  Maintain  and / or  Establish  Vegetative  Buffers  Next  to wetlands preservation, the most important preservation and / or restoration effort we  can under  take  to  promote  good water quality is to maintain or establish healthy vegetative buffers  on the banks of our streams, at the edge of our wetlands and on the shorelines of our inland lakes. Like  our  wetlands,  vegetative  buffers  provide an  irreplaceable  plethora of  natural  functions including  prevention  of  stream  bank erosion,  improves aquatic and  wildlife habitat as well as buffers and  traps  nutrient  laden  runoff  before it enters our lakes and streams. While wetlands protection  has  been  the  focus  of  intense  public  policy  debate and often involves litigation, the  collective  actions  of  riparian  owners  and  lake  and  stream associations in maintaining or establishing  vegetative  buffers  can  have  a  huge  impact  on  protecting  and enhancing water quality  in our  inland  lakes  and  streams. To  learn  more  about  the  importance  of  vegetative buffers, browse  the  following  web  resources:   Wisconsin  Stewardship  Network's  Vegetative  Buffer  Page USDA  Natural  Resources  Conservation  Service's  Buffer  Strip  Page  Minnesota  Lakes  Association's  Lakescaping  Page

 

3.   Preserve  our  Open  Spaces  With  the  exception of  Michigan's most remote communities, farm land is disappearing  at an alarmingly rapid rate. A rapid restructuring of the world's agricultural commodities market  has   severely  curtailed   our   farmer's  ability  to   earn   a  profit   from   most  traditional family farm operations. Once wide  open  farm  fields  have  vanished  under  excavators  bulldozers  as  thousands of  residential  and commercial developments and  their  associated  asphalt  parking  lots  and  structures  have  risen to replace our once  cherished  family  farm.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  open  space  has  been  rendered  impervious to rainwater and snowmelt as asphalt and concrete have replaced  permeable  soil - research  by  our  freshwater  science  folks  has revealed that even a  small  percentage  of  impervious  land  in  a  given   hydrologic  basin  can drastically  diminish   water   quality   in  our  wetlands,  streams  and  lakes. However,  there  are  increasingly  accepted  land  development  strategies known  as  "cluster development"  or  "open  space  communities"  that  allow  residential  and  commercial  development  while  limiting  the  loss  of  open  spaces  thus  minimizing  the  developments  overall   negative  impact  on  the  water  quality  of  our  wetlands, streams  and  inland  lakes. To learn more about these promising land development strategies, visit the following web sites: Hillsdale County Community Center Planning Page - Surface Water Protection  Measures Smart  Growth  Online's  Principles  of   Smart  Growth  Page Michigan  Land  Use  Institute

 

4.  Control  the  Spread of  Aquatic  Invasive  Species              As much an unfortunate consequence of economic and cultural globalization as the loss of our              once  mighty  industrial base, the introduction of foreign aquatic invasive species to the Great              Lakes region poses an ever increasing threat to our inland lakes and streams. Left  unchecked,              these  prodigious and  highly adaptive plants  and animals pose a  threat to the overall health              and  viability of our diverse and productive native ecosystems. Many of our MLSA Region  2              inland  lakes  have been infested with the aggressive and prodigious aquatic plant commonly              referred to  as  Eurasian  Water  Milfoil  and  the  now  infamous Zebra Mussel, that was first              observed in Lake St. Clair  in 1987.  A no less adaptive and aggressive wetlands borne plant,              Purple Loosestrife, has set-up camp  in hundreds of thousands of acres of our wetlands and              poses an equally as dangerous threat  to  the  long-term  viability and quality  of our fragile              freshwater resources as  Eurasian Water Milfoil  and  Zebra  Mussels.  To learn  more about              what you can do to  help  control  these  foreign  invaders that threaten to forever alter the              character and viability of  our  inland  lakes  and  streams, browse  the  following web sites:                                                               Michigan  Sea  Grant                                                 Michigan  Department  of  Environmental  Quality

 

5.  Get  Involved  in  Protecting  our  Freshwater  Resources              Opportunities abound for folks to get involved in the preservation and protection of our                 freshwater  resources, these opportunities  exist  at  all  levels of  participation and  time                 commitment.  Here is  a small  list that represents but a fraction of the opportunities that                 exist  for  you  to  contribute to  the  long-term  health  of  our inland lakes, streams and                 and wetlands:                                       Learn more about the watershed you live in Learn more about your favorite lake or stream Learn more about the important role of wetlands Learn to recognize foreign aquatic invaders Learn about how land use effects water quality Join the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations Attend MLSA Region 2 meetings and seminars Attend the MLSA Annual Conference Enroll your lake in the CLMP program Attend your local township government meetings Support candidates that understand  water issues Stop using phosphorus-based lawn fertilizers Stop mowing to the edge of your lake or stream Properly maintain your septic system Avoid  large  volume  diversions  of  lake water Learn  how  to  snorkel - fully  enjoy  your  lake!