Shafer & Freeman Lakes Environmental Conservation Corporation

SFLECC Board of Directors President, Carrie Woodruff, called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. She introduced the Board of Directors and went over what the SFLECC has been doing over the past year.

Carrie Woodruff then introduced the seven candidates for the five available Director positions: Rick Stetler (incumbent); Jack Werner (incumbent); Greg Deitz; John Engler; Darin Griesey; Ed Lucy; Rick Sweet. Voting took place throughout the meeting and ballots were collected at the end.

In lieu of Treasurer Tracey Linder’s absence, Carrie Woodruff presented the financial state of the organization. She reported that finances were within the projected budgets for operations and dredging. Operations revenue was at 103% of the budget at the end of July and operations expenses were at 49%. On the dredging side, expenses were at 40% through July.

Up next, Executive Director Gabrielle Haygood thanked all who came to the meeting and introduced the board and the staff. She proceeded to inform the attendees of all SFLECC has been doing this year. In April, SFLECC stocked fish and installed some fish habitats in both lakes. In May, SFLECC bought a new-to-us office building/meeting room/garage and moved to it. She talked about dredging, updating equipment, and maintaining the retention ponds, and how the flooding in July set back the dredging schedule greatly. Since then, the cleanup crew has been in overdrive with all the logs and debris that came down from the river. There has also been an invasive aquatic plant species called Eurasian Milfoil found on Lake Shafer and Aquatic Control Inc out of Valparaiso will be spraying the weed on September 4, 2024.

Land Manager Owen Lovvorn then talked about the Cleanup Crew and the debris that has been collected this year. He then discussed the Shore Front construction happening on the lakes.

At this point, Carrie Woodruff thanked the board for their volunteer service and presented Director & Secretary Marie Green with a gift for her many years of dedication to the SFLECC.   

After a period of questions and answers, the meeting was adjourned.

Votes were then counted. Incumbent Jack Werner was voted back on the board, along with new board member Greg Deitz. John Engler, Ed Lucy, and Rick Sweet will also be returning to the board.

*After the September Board Meeting, here is the new lineup of the Board of Directors for 2024-25: President-Carrie Woodruff, Vice President-John Engler, Secretary-Mike Triplett, Treasurer-Tracey Linder, Scott Bechtel, Greg Deitz, Bob Dion, Steve Haines, Dave Hardy, Lindy Karberg, Ed Lucy, Steve Pollack, Joel Stiller, Rick Sweet, Jack Werner.

Aquatic Control, Inc. will be spray-treating areas of Lake Shafer for Eurasian Milfoil tomorrow, September 4th, starting at 7 a.m. They will have two boats going – one boat will be starting upstream and one boat in the southern treatment zones – both working their way back to the launch at Big Monon Camp. It is recommended to limit boat traffic in the treated areas and to turn off lake-drawn irrigation systems for 3 days.

More detailed maps of the areas that will be treated for Eurasian Milfoil on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, starting from the PJ’s Gas Station area and going downriver. These maps do overlap but are more specific than the overall map posted previously. Aquatic Control, Inc has posted signs near all the areas that will be treated next week.

On August 22^nd, 2024, at 7 pm in the SFLECC Office, the Board of Directors met to discuss the treatment of Eurasian Milfoil in Lake Shafer. In an 8-6 vote, the majority was in favor of treating the invasive aquatic vegetation through chemical spraying the 44 acres of Lake Shafer on which it has been discovered. On September 4^th, Aquatic Control Inc. will be spraying the chemical, ProcellaCOR EC that has been approved by DNR, US Dept. of Agriculture, US Fish & Wildlife, and EPA. It is a selective and systemic herbicide that is said not to have any effect on humans, wildlife or other aquatic plant life such as Coontail, Duckweed, Eel Grass, Water Lily pads, etc. Aquatic Control Inc. will be posting signs on Wednesday, August 28^th near the areas that will be sprayed to inform property owners to turn off lake-drawn irrigation systems for the first 3 days following treatment.

The Shafer & Freeman Lakes Environmental Conservation Corporation Annual Meeting will be on Saturday, August 24th, 2024 at 10:00 am in the SFLECC’s New Office Building at 514 South Railroad Street in Monticello.

Five board positions will be filled at the meeting. Directors must be legal residents of the state of Indiana. Only members* of the SFLECC are entitled to run for the board and vote.

*Members of the corporation consist of persons who have a paid current Shore Front License or have made a donation twice the amount of a standard Shore Front License during the calendar year. They could also be a recorded member of an association with a paid current Shore Front License. Members are encouraged to attend this meeting. Ballots will be available at the registration desk.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts with SFLECC regarding the recent post about Eurasian Milfoil treatment. We believe it’s important to provide additional time for public education and notification.

Please be assured that the SFLECC Board of Directors is diligently conducting thorough research to ensure that we make the best decisions for the lakes. Our commitment remains the same, to operate transparently, openly, and fairly.

Our next regularly scheduled board meeting is Thursday, August 15th at 7 pm in our office at 514 S. Railroad St. Monticello. You must call our office at 574-583-9784 to be added to the agenda if you wish to speak.

A reputable aquatic treatment company has confirmed an invasive species called Eurasian Milfoil in some areas on Lake Shafer. While it is not Shafer & Freeman Lakes Environmental Conservation Corporation’s responsibility to manage this problem (as it does not own the waters), we have taken on the responsibility to research a solution. One of the processes for eliminating this invasive species is to have those areas treated with a specific chemical spray by a licensed technician. After meeting with this company, SFLECC decided to treat the lake with a selective herbicide that has been approved by the US Department of Agriculture and the Indiana DNR called ProcellaCOR EC. It is a selective and systemic herbicide that is said not to have any effect on humans, wildlife or other aquatic plant life, but will kill grass, sedge weeds and broadleaf weeds. Systemic means that the plant will take it up from the roots, release it throughout its entire structure, and will die with in 2-4 weeks. The chemical will then break down naturally within 3-4 days. The process will take place on Tuesday, August 27^th and it is recommended to turn off all lake-drawn irrigation systems for 3 days. The cost of this treatment is expensive and not something that was budgeted for this year. Because of this, SFLECC could really use your help covering the cost. Any donations you can provide would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to SFLECC, PO Box 372 Monticello, IN 47960.

We have heard from some homeowners that there may be Eurasian Watermilfoil in spots on Lake Shafer, currently. According to DNR and other sources, here is information on how to remove it if it’s in your area.

Milfoil – Common names: Eurasian watermilfoil, spiked watermilfoil, EWM. Milfoil is a submerged aquatic plant which grows in still or slow-moving water. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but has a wide geographic and climatic distribution among some 57 countries, extending from northern Canada to South Africa. It has been found in 33 states in the US. It is considered to be a highly invasive species.

Eurasian Watermilfoil is nothing more than a weed, native to Europe and Asia. It’s interesting to note that Milfoil was used to decorate aquariums, but now, it’s mostly seen in lakes. Like weeds in our yards or gardens, it’s something that can harm other plants as well as put our lakes in danger. The long stems become easily tangled and form thick mats, making it hard for recreational lake users to enjoy the water by engaging in simple pleasures like boating, fishing, and swimming. The sleek stems can wrap around boat propellers, and too much Milfoil can hinder property values.

This dangerous plant also makes water life hard for other healthy and necessary aquatic plants by pushing them out of the way. It’s easy for Eurasian Watermilfoil to reproduce, and it only takes one strand of the weed to create more of the tangled stems. All it takes is one piece hanging on a fisherman’s boat to move the weed from place to place, creating even more of the weed and making weed takeover imminent. The plant grows quickly and is extremely hard to control, making eradication quite a chore, if not impossible altogether.

Milfoil also brings dangerous mosquitoes to bodies of water, and since it is harmful to good aquatic plants, any body of water where Milfoil grows may become less and less diverse as time goes on and the powerful plant damages all of the good lake life in its path.

Eurasian watermilfoil has slender stems up to 250 centimetres (8.2 ft) long. Submerged leaves (usually between 15–35  mm long) are borne in pinnate whorls of four, with numerous thread-like leaflets roughly 4–13 mm long. Plants are monoecious with flowers produced in the leaf axils (male above, female below) on a spike 5–15 cm long held vertically above the water surface, each flower is inconspicuous, orange-red, 4–6 mm long. Eurasian water milfoil has 12- 21 pairs of leaflets while northern watermilfoil M. sibiricum only has 5–9 pairs. The two can hybridize and the resulting hybrid plants can cause taxonomic confusion as leaf characters are intermediate and can overlap with parent species deceptively delicate and fragile in appearance, the Eurasian watermilfoil forms thick mats in shallow areas of a lake, quickly growing and spreading to block sunlight, killing off native aquatic plants that fish and other underwater species rely on for food and shelter. 

Eurasian watermilfoil crowds out native plants and forms thick, floating mats on the surface of the water that can make boating, fishing and swimming difficult. with smooth stems that branch near the water surface.

Milfoil was likely first introduced to North America in the 1940swhere it has become an invasive species in some areas. By the mid 1970s, watermilfoil had also covered thousands of hectares in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada, and spread some 500 kilometres (310 mi) downstream via the Columbia River system into the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Eurasian watermilfoil is now found across most of Northern America where it is recognized as a noxious weed.

In lakes or other aquatic areas where native aquatic plants are not well established, the Eurasian plant can spread quickly. It has been known to crowd out native plants and create dense mats that interfere with recreational activity. Dense growth of Eurasian milfoil can also have a negative impact on fisheries by creating microhabitats for juvenile fish and obstructing space for larger fish ultimately disrupting normal feeding patterns. Due to the Eurasian milfoil plant’s inability to provide the same microhabitat for invertebrates as compared to native aquatic plant species, densely populated areas of Eurasian milfoil create an ecosystem with less food sources for the surrounding fish. Dense Eurasian milfoil growth can also create hypoxic zones by blocking out sun penetration to native aquatic vegetation preventing them from photosynthesizing. Eurasian watermilfoil grows primarily from broken off stems, known as shoot fragments, which increases the rate at which the plant can spread and grow. In some areas, the Eurasian Watermilfoil is an Aquatic Nuisance Species. Eurasian watermilfoil is known to hybridize with the native northern watermilfoil (M. sibiricum) and the hybrid taxon has also become invasive in North America. This hybridization has been observed across the upper midwestern United States (Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin) and in the Northwest (Idaho, Washington).

Here are some ways of coping with the Eurasian Milfoil:

• Physical removal by professional divers.
• Grass eating carp.
• Weevils – a small herbivorous aquatic beetle.
• Harvesting or Dredging – be sure to remove all remnants of the milfoil.
• Aquatic Herbicides – Aquacide Pellets, a slow release tablet with 2,4-D.

The aquatic moth Acentria ephemerella, the water veneer moth, feeds upon and damages this water milfoil. It has been used as an agent of biological pest control against the plant in North America. The milfoil weevil (Euhrychiopsis lecontei) has also been used as biocontrol. Another method for biocontrol is Grass Carp, (one of the Asian Carp species) which have been bred as sterile, is sometimes released into affected areas, since these fish primarily feed on aquatic plants and have proven effective at controlling the spread. However, the carp prefer many native species to the milfoil and will usually decimate preferred species before eating the milfoil. In Washington State the success rate of Grass Carp has been less than expected. They were used in 98 lakes and 39 percent of them had no submerged plant life left after only a short time.

Since roughly 2000, hand-harvesting of invasive milfoils has shown much success as a management technique. Several organizations in the New England states have undertaken large scale, lake-wide hand-harvesting management programs with extremely successful results. Acknowledgment had to be made that it is impossible to completely eradicate the species once it is established. As a result, maintenance must be done once an infestation has been reduced to affordably controlled levels. Well trained divers with proper techniques have been able to effectively control and then maintain many lakes, especially in the Adirondack Park in Northern New York where chemicals, mechanical harvesters, and other disruptive and largely unsuccessful management techniques are banned. After only three years of hand harvesting in Saranac Lake the program was able to reduce the amount harvested from over 18 tons to just 800 pounds per year.

The only issue with chemical removal is that chemicals aren’t always approved depending on the state, and you may need to contact a professional to remove weeds using chemical methods. The DNR has a list of aquatic herbicides that are approved for DIY use. Treating large areas (more than one acre) in public lakes requires the approval of the DNR. 

What You Can Do To Help Stop The Spread Of Milfoil

Here are the things YOU CAN DO to help stop the spread of milfoil, which are all applicable lake-wide. All require a bit of elbow grease on your part, but if we are all contributing, it can make a big difference around the lake.

1. As a general rule, get as much milfoil out of the lake as possible. Let it dry out on land and dispose of it as you would yard waste.
2. PLEASE don’t drive through milfoil patches with your boat which will create fragments. Fragments can easily seed new plants.
3. If you do have milfoil on your prop, don’t just reverse and drive away, please remove it from the lake.
4. If you have milfoil growing in your dock or swimming area, pull it out by the roots and remove it from the lake.
5. If you see milfoil floating anywhere in the lake, near your dock, or along your shoreline, remove it from the lake.
6. Obey boating regulations by travelling at no-wake, 5 MPH speeds within marked areas.

From our friends at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources: We ask that you exercise caution and consider the following when choosing to recreate on the Tippecanoe River, including Lake Freeman and Lake Shafer.

Hazardous wake and wash is still prohibited, regardless of the current water levels on the above bodies of water. For many homeowners, the water is still above their dock or pier and extends far into their property. Dangerous operation of a boat is described by statute as “a person may not operate a boat in a manner that does any of the following; unnecessarily endangers the person or property of another person, unnecessarily interferes with the safe and lawful use of public waters by another person.”

Please exercise extreme caution as we continue to receive calls on large amounts of debris making its way down river. Some of which is not exposed, but just below the surface.