IMPORTANT NEWS from Otter Tail County Coalition of Lake Associations

What a difference a year makes! Last year we wondered if ice-out would come before opening weekend. This year we have open water in March! Will we have one last blizzard before we can safely say Winter is over?

OTC COLA is looking forward to an exciting lake season in 2024. The Board of Directors have been working hard to put together programs and activities to attract and engage Lake Associations and lake property owners. The emphasis this year is to increase OTC COLA awareness and outreach to all lake property owners.

Water monitoring kickoff and meeting events are scheduled to be held at the Ottertail Community Center in Ottertail, MN on 3rd Thursdays, April, May, June, July and August.

Members of the OTC COLA Board of Directors will be available to speak at Lake Association meetings in 2024. OTC COLA is fortunate to have a Board consisting of individuals having a variety of talents, experience and expertise in technical and administrative fields. Supplemental literature and other various handouts are being developed providing valuable take-aways from the events.

To reserve a speaker for your event please contact John Kruse, OTC COLA Administrative Assistant. We will do our best to accommodate scheduling requests.

Consistent with OTC COLA's desire to increase awareness and engagement of lake property owners, it has developed a program of placing ads in local and regional publications. Watch for us in the Pelican Rapids Press, Henning, New York Mills, and Frazee/Vergas newspapers. Please send me an email telling me where you saw our ad.

The present format for the OTC COLA E-Newsletter was established in 2016. Since that time OTC COLA has maintained a record of sending monthly issues without interruption. In May 2016 there were 516 subscribers. OTC COLA currently sends approximately 1,400 monthly newsletter emails. It is estimated that the current monthly readership is between 2,000 and 3,000 readers. The number of newsletter emails that go directly to subscribers are easily tracked. Additional readers access newsletters from links to Newsletters that are posted on the www.otccola.org website as well as on Lake Association websites.

Forwarding monthly issues of the OTC COLA E-Newsletters to lake stakeholders, especially in Minnesota, is always encouraged. News and education on good lake stewardship and best practices is beneficial for all of our lakes. The OTC COLA E-Newsletter has never been just for "Members". We would like everyone who can benefit from the Newsletter to receive it.

Some Lake Associations are sensitive to some of their Members who are reluctant to subscribe to the OTC COLA E-Newsletter directly, thinking that they are safeguarding the confidentiality of Member email addresses. This is understandable. OTC COLA's policy is to keep email addresses of its subscribers confidential to OTC COLA. The email subscriber data is never shared with any outside organization for any outside purpose. There are several ways to accommodate distribution of OTC COLA E-Newsletters to Members while respecting confidentiality of email addresses.

Commercial Fishers, Minnesota DNR

You may have heard in the news lately how this winter’s unseasonably warm weather may affect curly-leaf pondweed. While it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen, two studies in Minnesota have found that winters with deeper snow cover on frozen lakes are associated with declines in curly-leaf pondweed frequency. These studies do not verify that there is a cause-and-effect relationship.

·        Valley, R. D., and Heiskary, S. (2012). Short-term declines in curlyleaf pondweed in Minnesota: potential influences of snowfall. Lake and Reservoir Management, 28:4, 338-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/07438141.2012.745911

·        Verhoeven, M. R., Larkin, D. J., and Newman, R. M. (2020). Constraining invader dominance: Effects of repeated herbicidal management and environmental factors on curlyleaf pondweed dynamics in 50 Minnesota lakes. Freshwater Biology, 65:5, 849-862. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13468

Nuisance species may be appealing in some settings but not welcome to share the lakeshore with you and your family. They can damage lawns or degrade your living area. This group includes muskrats, Canada geese, and even mallard ducks (particularly in urban areas) that are capable of damaging your lawn or degrading your living area. Here are some tips to combat these species

OTC COLA would like to know if there is interest among its Membership for

an integrated depth sample device construction workshop to be held in April. Depending on the interest of registrants, the workshop could include constructing the devices and training on collecting samples with the

new tool. There would also be a discussion on sampling techniques as well

as tips from folks who have been using the integrated depth sample

devices in past seasons.

If you are interested in a sampler device construction workshop, please

contact us via email at otccola2@gmail.com.

MN COLA sets 2024 member meeting dates https://mncola.org/mn-cola-sets-2024-meeting-dates/

Go HERE for a review of the benefits of joining MN COLA

David Helgerson, OTC COLA Director Liaison with MN COLA 

Spencer McGrew, OTC AIS Specialist

AIS * Water Quality * Administration * Regulation

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 Subscribe to the OTC COLA E-Newsletter

Roger Neitzke ∙ Ronald Christensen ∙ Scott Gaudette ∙ Sylvia Soeth

Bass Lake Underwood Association ∙ Berger Lake Association ∙ Big McDonald LID ∙ Boedigheimer Lake Association ∙ Clitherall Lake Association ∙ Dead Lake Association ∙ Devils Lake Association ∙ Eagle Lake Lakeshore Association ∙ East Battle Lake WS Association ∙ Elbow Lake Association ∙ Franklin Lake Association ∙ Hoffman Lake Association ∙ Jewett Lake Association ∙ Lida Lakes Improvement District ∙ Lake Lizzie Lakeshore Association ∙ Lake Seven Association ∙ Lake Six Association ∙ Leaf Lakes Association ∙ Little McDonald Kerbs and Paul Lakes LID ∙ Long Lake at Vergas Association ∙ Loon Lake Association ∙ Marion Lake Association ∙ McDonald Lake Improvement Association ∙ North Long Lake Association ∙ North Turtle Lake Association ∙ Otter Tail Lakes Property Owners Association ∙ Pebble Lake Lakeshore Association ∙ Pelican Lake Property Owners Association ∙ Pickerel Lake Improvement Association ∙ Pine Lakes LID ∙ Prairie Lake Lakeshore Association ∙ Round Lake 56-214 ∙ Rush Lake Association ∙ Silent Lakes Association ∙ Silver Lake Property Owners Association ∙ South Turtle Lake Improvement District ∙ Spitzer Lake Property Owners Association ∙ Stalker Lake Association ∙ Star Lake Property Owners Association ∙ Stuart Lake Association ∙ Swan Lake Association ∙ Sybil Lake Association ∙ Tamarac Lake Association ∙ Ten Mile Preservation Association ∙ Trowbridge-Leek Lake Association ∙ Wall Lake Association ∙ West Battle Lake Association ∙ West McDonald Lake Association ∙ Wymer Lake Association

John Kruse, OTC COLA Administrative Assistant