Annual Meeting Details

Sustainability

Pleski Property and Louise Lake Aquatic Management Area (AMA) Established

Louise, Wabedo and Little Boy Lakes are located in Cass County near the City of Longville. These three lakes are connected by a channel which is an important ecological connection between the three basins through a “sensitive shoreland” area.

The Louise Lake Aquatic Management Area (AMA) was established in 2005 with a 6.6 acre tract. More recently, nearly 20 acres were added to the AMA with the purchase and conveyance of the Jim and Linda Pleski property by the Northern Waters Land Trust (NWLT) to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

More than 60% of the 2,600 foot stream channel connecting the three lakes is now protected in the AMA. The new tract protects spawning, nesting and feeding areas critical for fish such as crappies, black bass, bluegills, pumpkinseed, sunfish, pike and possibly muskie. Wild rice and other aquatic emergent vegetation provides important habitat for nesting, feeding and migrating waterfowl. Click here to read the full story.

Siemering Family Creates a Conservation Legacy on Wabedo Lake

Click here to read the Northern Waters Land Trust tribute to the Siemering Family for their conservation-minded generosity. An excerpt from the article describes NWLT as "a non-profit conservation organization whose mission is: preserve land to protect water. They serve the watersheds of Cass, Crow Wing, Aitkin, and Hubbard Counties, and are working towards a region that has clean lakes, rivers, wetlands, and forests that support a diversity of fish and wildlife."

WLBCR Is Recipient of a $10,000 Grant Award in 2000

The Wabedo-Little Boy-Cooper-Rice (WLBCR) Lakes Association, in partnership with the Northern Waters Land Trust (NWLT), received a grant award from the Hugh C. Becker Committee of Twin Cities Chapter of Muskies, Inc. to assist with the purchase of property on Wabedo Lake to preserve musky habitat, sensitive shoreline, and forested areas.

The grant for WLBCR is designated for conservation of land that is near critical muskie habitat on Wabedo Lake. The lake association extends a public thank you to Hugh for his contribution to preserving a healthy fishery.

Pictured (l-r) Ron Stokesbary, WLBCR Treasurer, Kathy Wagner, WLBCR President, Derek Jensen, NWLT Board, Doug Schultz, Walker Area Fisheries Manager, George Selcke, Chairman Hugh Becker Foundation, Terry Tripp, NWLT Board.

Who was Hugh Becker Anyway?

As WLBCR celebrates the $10,000 grant from the Hugh C. Becker Foundation of Muskies Inc., in partnership with the Northern Waters Trust Alliance, now is a great time to celebrate the visionary behind this generous gift.

Hugh loved the outdoors and muskie fishing; so much that he left his entire $3 million estate primarily to benefit fish and anglers. Prior to his passing in 2007, he set up a nonprofit foundation that will funnel yearly earnings of those millions into perpetuity to the Twin Cities Chapter of Muskies Inc., which he helped to start, and to the Chippewa Rod and Gun Club in Chippewa Falls, WI, where he fished.

Click here to read the full article.

YMCA Camp Olson Establishes Multiple Easements to Protect Wildlife

YMCA Camp Olson stretches over 1250 acres of diverse forest habitat in Cass County. It also contains extensive shoreline on Cooper and Little Boy Lakes, both of which are important tullibee lakes that provide feeder fish for larger game fish like walleye and muskie. These lakes also provide important habitat for iconic Minnesota birds such as the common loon. Through a partnership between the Minnesota Land Trust and the Northern Waters Land Trust, Camp Olson has now protected over 2,000 feet of shoreline along Cooper Lake and intends to continue to add additional easements in subsequent phases. See complete MN Land Trust article here.

Schwartz Family Protects 28.9 Acres and 1,762 Feet of Shoreline

The Fred and Joyce Schwartz family placed a conservation easement on their 28.9 acre parcel that preserves 1,762 feet of shoreline of Wabedo Lake in 2019. The Northern Waters Land Trust, Minnesota Land Trust, Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Schwartz family all came together to make this preservation possible. Much more information is available on the Minnesota Land Trust site: Honoring a legacy of conservation (mnland.org)

80 Forested Acres and 40 Shoreland Acres Preserved on Wabedo Lake in 2019

We are excited about another preservation project on Wabedo Lake. It involves about 80 forested acres and around 40 shoreland acres. We are working with the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation, Moran Realty and Cass County to facilitate this project. LLAWF has requested grant monies from Lessard-Sams to purchase this property which will end up being owned by Cass County. Our association has committed up to $20,000 to help with the matching funds that are needed to complete this project. We expect to hear if we will receive the grant in the fall of 2018 and the funds would be available sometime in 2019. We will have more information on this project as it gets closer to completion.

Conservation Easement Established by Randy Helland and Cindy Gackle

Another easement was completed in 2011. Randy Helland and Cindy Gackle on Little Boy have completed an easement on their property - thank you! ! Little Boy now has almost 7,300 feet of shoreline protected and over 825 acres. See the "pebbly" areas in Little Boy Lake graphic below.

Four Wabedo Lake Property Owners Protect Shoreland - Johnson, Haxby, Duncan and Andrews

During 2010 easements on a number of Wabedo Lake properties (four owners - Johnson, Haxby, Duncan and Andrews) were completed and are in effect. With these easements, over 5,000 feet of shoreline has been protected from development and almost 80 acres of pristine shoreland. See the "pebbley" areas in the Lake Wabedo Preservations map below.

Little Boy Preservations

Wabedo Lake Preservations

Sustainability Committee Established in 2007

This committee was created in 2007 to address the long term sustainability and preservation of our lakes and surrounding areas. They review data from a list of "Parcels with Conservation Potential" from Cass County. These are parcels that are large enough to be developed into plats (dividing the existing property into multiple lots). The intent is to provide information to the current owners of these parcels concerning their options for preservation and conservation of the land and critical habitat. Our concern with these parcels is the possible degredation that can occur from splitting one parcel into many. There are impacts from this type of development such as decrease in acquatic vegetation due to additional docks, shoreline degredation due to additional paths to the lake, run-off from lawns created by these new properties, etc. It is the cumulative effect of development that creates concerns for long-term sustainability.

Other issues that this committee will address include shoreline restoration, watershed viability, acquatic plant restoration, and many others.

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