CABIN LIVING | water quality

For YourLake’s Sake

by Brady Slater

It’s circular, 8 or 10 inches in diameter. It’s as flat as a communion wafer.

It’s painted in alternateblack-and-white like the

floor tiles of your favorite retro diner.It’s called a Secchi disk and

this 142-year-old Italian measuringinvention is among the most talked-about tools on American lakes.Maybe even ahead of depth findersand trolling motors.

“You [lower it into the lake and]look at it until you lose sight of thedisc,” said Maggie Shannon, a resi-dent of Maine’s Wilson Lake area.“That’s your water-clarity reading.We’ve got a clear lake – 51/2 meters[18 feet]. That’s average for Maine;we’re so proud of our lakes.”

Because so many lakehomeowners – and the lake associationsthey belong to – covet clear water,many shorelines are often being naturalized these days. Manicuredbeachfronts and groomed lawns thatrun to the water are giving way tobeautiful, bushy, verdant lakeshores.

What does it mean to naturalizeyour shoreline, and what are therewards? The list begins with:❋ the return of native trees, plants, reeds and lily pads; ❋ the introduction of intimate,meandering pathways through the yard to the lake; ❋ the revival of driftwood andrecovery of fishing holes that sprout around it; ❋ a healthier, clearer lake, becausethe natural shoreline filters run-offthat may contain sediments andalgae-encouraging phosphorous;❋ pesky, lawn-loving geese go else-where, fearing that your naturalshoreline might harbor predators.

The LakescapingMovement

How is it that these lush, natural lakeshores are becomingmore common?

It’s not quite a revolution, butshoreland stewardship is at least a

Covet clear blue waters?

Lakehome owners in Maine &Wisconsin show to get it –& keep it

burgeoning movement. It started in earnest in Minnesota, Land of10,000 Lakes, and was dubbed by a Minnesota conservationist as“lakescaping.” Other phrases used todescribe the practice of caring for theshoreland are “naturalizing the shore-line,” “shoreline preservation” and“shoreline restoration.”

Whatever you call it, the idea isnow spreading like the algae bloomsit seeks to combat. In Maine, themovement was kicked into high gearby its LakeSmart program – a 6-year-old, non-punitive endeavor thatencourages alternative lakeshore landscaping by rewarding interestedlakehome owners.

And around one lake inWisconsin’s Bayfield County, landowners are using a $100,000 grant to cultivate a more ecologically soundshoreline around their precious lake –one cabin property at a time.

Grassroots ApproachCommonly, the advocates of

shoreland stewardship seem lessinclined to march down the preachypath favored by some of today’sardent environmentalists.

Instead, you’re likely to see agrassroots approach by lake associa-tion members or individual lakehomeowners who take the initiative, open-ing the door for environmental edu-cators to assess properties and recom-mend changes.

It’s a soft sell, but a convincingone – especially when the neighborsgather together because they wish toimprove lake quality.

LakeSmart in MaineIn Maine, the state’s LakeSmart

program has become immensely pop-ular. “When we put it out there wereacted to areas that were interested –until it snowballed,” said ChristineSmith, Maine’s one-time lakes educa-tion coordinator and the author ofthe LakeSmart initiative.

Now, LakeSmart has a pent-updemand of at least 10 lakes that arewaiting. “We’ve created an applica-

left

photo

© S

tanis

lav

Kom

ogo

rov,

dre

amst

ime.c

om

/ ri

ght

photo

by

Tan

ya N

ygre

n

tion process to make sure they’recommitted to promoting it andworking as a partner, as opposed tothe Department of EnvironmentalProtection [DEP] doing it all. It hasto be a grassroots effort.” Smith says.

Wilson Lake’s Maggie Shannonand her husband, Roger, are amongthe state’s 117 property owners toearn LakeSmart awards – twoLakeSmart signs to display on thefront and rear of the property, aplaque for their camp and theirnames published in a congratulatorynewspaper ad. The signs feature adrop of water framing a cycle-of-lifemotif and read: “Living Lightly onthe Land for Our Lake’s Sake.” Thesigns are visible by boaters as well asoverland travelers.

“People don’t generally realizelakes are fragile natural resources,”Maggie said. “They look at them aseternal and have no idea how vul-nerable they are to human activities.

Rather than punishment, theMaine DEP chose a rewards pro-gram for people who think of a lakeas a commons.”

Maggie called it “old-fashionedNew England green thinking”and, on Wilson Lake, it’s working.Bill LaFlamme, the state’s shoreland zoning coordinator, reported 17 percent of the lake’s 1,600 propertiesas being groomed toward Lake-Smart compliance.

“The theory we’re working on is if at least 15 percent take part,”LaFlamme said, “the remaining 85percent will follow suit over time.”

The conservation – or “green” –tradition among Mainers works inLakeSmart’s favor. The state putshoreland zoning laws on its booksas far back as 1970 – an indicationof the state’s progressive impulses.Popular longtime Senator George J.Mitchell grew up on the once-fetidKennebec River, an experience thatstirred him to become an enthusias-tic advocate for water qualitythroughout his career.

Today, law-enforcementresources are spread too thin to mon-itor water quality. Enter the 6-year-old LakeSmart program. It’s right ontime in today’s environmentally con-scious climate. The program educatesproperty owners about watersheds –the fact that their lakes exist at thebottoms of bowls, and that becauseof gravity their lakes receive rain-water runoff – and its sometimeshigh phosphorous content. Thatphosphorous content, of course, isthe stuff that feeds algae blooms.

“The genesis of the programwas we were seeing suburban land-scaping moving to our lakes and weneeded to change the ethic of peoplecoming to Maine and bringing biglawns to lakes,” Smith said. “There’sstill a desire to do that, but we wantto reward people who have nice veg-etative buffers.

“In a nutshell we’re trying toslow the flow of runoff over people’sproperties into lakes. We do notwant nutrients going into lakes andfeeding the algae.”

Bony Lake, WisconsinWisconsin doesn’t want that

either. There, a Secchi disk readingof Bayfield Bounty’s Bony Lake pro-duces a depth of 24 feet.

“That quality of water is stillunique,” said Carol LeBreck, a prop-erty owner and writer for a 3-yearWisconsin Department of NaturalResources grant worth $100,000that may help establish Bony Lake as a showpiece for shoreland stew-ardship. “We’d like to be able tokeep it that way, even at a timewhen lakes nationwide are beingdegraded by all kinds of forces, notthe least of which is greater develop-ment.”

LeBreck started visiting Bony

top p

hoto

court

esy

Mag

gie S

han

non/

oth

er

photo

s by

Ste

ve U

mla

nd

Above: A LakeSmart award-winningcabin on Great Pond in Belgrade, Maine.

Middle: A cabin owner on Wisconsin’sBony Lake learns what’s needed to naturalize the shoreline.

Bottom: Also on Bony Lake, a lake-home owner’s efforts at returning thelakeshore to a natural state.

Lake’s modest but nonetheless beau-tiful 191 acres as a child in the1940s. She recalls more low-impactcabins and resorts than year-roundhomes. It was more common to seeloosely defined yards with pine nee-dles scattered about than to see neatlawns of lush green grass. There wasless boat-induced wave actionpounding on the shorelines. Sheeven recalls the sedate demeanor of the once-common blue crawfishspecies – as opposed to the moreprominent hyperactive rusty craw-fish species that now behaves like itowns the lake.

Clearly, times change andLeBreck believes Bony Lake canadjust with the times. “There havebeen lots of changes,” she said, butadded that there’s a core of peoplewho have owned property on thelake a long time and are deeplyinvested in its future. She said about50 percent of property owners wereon-board with shoreland stewardshipprior to the writing of the grant, andestimates 165 acres of land are tiedinto those people. She hopes thatthe grant will help the propertyowners establish 25 to 30 differentkinds of conservation areas.

“We’re thinking lake-widerestoration, not just shorelinebuffers, LeBreck said. “If we restoreproperties we can remake an impacton habitat.”

The Bony Lake project asks lake-home owners to take steps rangingfrom easy to more work-intensive. Aneasy step: Cabin owners turn off gas-powered brush cutters and let thenative shoreline vegetation grow.

Ideas that involve some sweatequity: Establish rain gardens thatcollect storm-water, do strategic treedrops that will reintroduce fish habi-tat and install bio-logs to stem wave-based erosion.

What is a bio-log? It’s a naturalfiber log made of biodegradablecoconut fiber and netting, and it isused to stabilize slopes and minimizebank erosion. Bio-logs blend into theshoreline and effectively trap andretain sediment. You can plant nativeseedlings right in these fiber logs,and they retain moisture and providestability so plants can take root, growand spread. Bio-logs are placed at the

A Natural Shoreline –What Can You Do?

One of the tenets of shoreland stewardship is the reintroduction of native species to serve as a vegetative buffer between land and water. This buffer is referred to as “the forest sponge” by one source.

“Every time it rains, water washes over the landscape, picking up soil nutri-ents and pollutants, carrying them to the lowest point – the lake,” Maine’sMaggie Shannon says.“Anything a person can do to slow the flow of rainwaterallows it to percolate in the soil and be absorbed. That’s why natural lakes aresparkling and pristine.”

Nothing facilitates that percolating process better than native species.According to the University of Minnesota Extension Service:“Native plants arethose that evolved in your area over several thousand years prior to Europeansettlement. These plants are adapted to the local environment, and are best forthe overall ecosystem.”

The following is a list of helpful tips you can use to reestablish the forest sponge of native species along your shoreline:

❃ LIMIT CUTTING, PLUCKING, PRUNING, TRIMMING, MANICURINGAND MOWING. “If you let things go, the natives will come back,” saidWisconsin’s Carol LeBreck.“You’d be surprised. You’ll see something that lookslike orchids and say to yourself, ‘Oh my, I never had those before.’ ”

❃ DROP THE RAKE. What you thought was unsightly debris, those leaves andtwigs in various stages of decomposition, is called “duff” and it makes up animportant layer of your forest sponge.

❃ PLANTING NEW. To give your shoreline growth a boost, you may want toplant native seedlings. How do you figure out what’s native to your area? Tryyour local extension office, state resources department or your county biologicalsurvey. A county master gardener may be helpful. Before planting, you mayneed to obtain a permit. Again, check with your state resources department.

❃ PLANTING: THINK BIG … & SMALL. If you decide to plant nativespecies, include a variety of trees, as well as saplings, shrubs, bushes and smallerplants. Big: The bigger trees’ root systems are as vast in the soil as the crown isup top. Those roots hold the soil together and prevent erosion. Small: The small-er the plant, the more it protects soil immediately around it, stopping raindroperosion in the topsoil around the plant.

❃ LEAVE THE DRIFTWOOD. One of the first things property owners do is dragall the dead trees and branches out of the water in an effort to neaten up theplace. But consider letting the downed trees lie. It’s an integral piece of the ecosys-tem, providing habitat for fish and wildlife.

❃ CREATE WALKING PATHS. Instead of swaths to the lake, Maine conserva-tionists recommend 6-foot-wide paths that meander from the home to the shore-line.You don’t want a straight shot for obvious runoff reasons.You do want to adda layer of mulch to these paths (4 inches is recommended).p

hoto

by

Ste

ve U

mla

nd

foot of banked slopes or in the water,molded to follow the shoreline, andthen anchored in place by woodenstakes or rocks.

The Bony Lake project may,indeed, become a model of shorelandconservation. The grant specifies thatin the future the lake area will hosteducational workshops.

The Future Of course, neither $100,000 nor

the patience of stretched-thin conser-vationists lasts forever. For Bony Lakeand those Maine lakes, property own-ers will bear the load to bring about long-term change.

Sure, college-age conservationistslooking for out-of-lab credit will putin their volunteer time. And, yes,there’s always a corps of some kind toperform a service project of somekind or another. But the ongoingresponsibility for shoreland steward-ship will reside with the lakehomeand cabin owners.

Nobody ever said being a lake-home owner was easy – just rewarding.Being a shoreland steward is even lessso on the first account – and maybeeven more so on the second.

Take it from Maggie Shannon,whose verbal tour of her propertypaints a mind’s eye picture anybody

could get lost in: “The property welive in was built by a young couplewho met as summer residents and fellin love. They built the smallest foot-print they could, an A-frame. Youcan’t see the property from the lakeunless the glass reflects the light. Wehave a sightline from the deck to thelake and a tiny narrow mulched paththrough the hemlock.

“I feel good about it.” �

Brady Slater is a freelance journalistwith a passion for writing about realpeople doing good work.

Reprinted with permission from Cabin Life magazine, May 2008.Subscriptions are available at www.cabinlife.com

or by calling 1-888-287-3129.