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Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our Membership Appreciation night! It was great to see and hear from everyone. The video above was created and presented at the event to highlight all the people, sponsors and activities we do at CLA. If you missed it, please check it out!

Lake Management Inc. came out to North and South Center Lakes to treat phragmites on our lakes. This interactive map shows the areas they treated this fall. Icon Key Pink - 2022 treated areas Green - 2021 treated areas Yellow - 2020 treated areas ***Each point is a close approximation of the treated area ***Clicking on the icon in the top left will let you toggle on/off the treated areas that were covered in 2020, 2021 and 2022 for comparison

by Mike Gray, CLA President At the Spring meeting of Center Lakes Association, Leslie George of Minnesota DNR talked about their fish stocking of walleye in North and South Center Lakes. I was surprised to hear that walleye don’t naturally reproduce in our lakes and the DNR stocking program is how the lake is repopulated. A friend mentioned that their lake association pays to stock their lake. So, I reached out to Leslie for information, as this was quite interesting! She said, “It is not uncommon for lake associations to stock their lakes.” The DNR stocks our lakes in even numbered years. North Center gets 608,000 walleye fry in the Spring and South Center gets 729 pounds (about 14,000 fingerlings, 4+”) in the fall. North Center is shallower and warmer. That is why they do the fry instead of fingerlings, but we could do fingerlings if we wanted. If we wanted to supplement the DNR stocking, it would make sense to do it in the odd numbered years. We would need to fill out a permit for transporting the live fish and the DNR would use that information when doing fish counts in the Spring to see if there is a noticeable effect in the counts. The permit is free and is used only for tracking purposes. I contacted 10,000 Lakes Aquaculture, Inc. in Osakis, MN. They are one of the fisheries we could purchase from. Leslie said the majority of fish purchased are walleye. I only investigated walleye, based on her recommendation. I know our lakes are also known for large mouth bass-they run $2/fish. To purchase walleye fingerlings 4-6” long, the cost is $1.60/fish. If we were going to augment the DNR stocking by putting 25% of what they stock in even years we would be putting 3,500 fingerlings in each lake, or 7,000 total at a cost of $11,200. If we were to cut it back to 10% of what the DNR stocks, we would be at 2,800 total at a cost of $4,480. These are some large numbers and I bring them up because the recent years of higher water kept our invasive weeds at bay, so our weed treatments haven’t been permitted by the DNR. Now with the lower water levels and the increase in Curley Leaf Pondweed and Eurasian Water Milfoil, we may see the weed treatments and related costs go up. But with help from the Lake Improvement District, those costs should be mitigated. We currently have about $30,000 of funds to work with. My question is “Is there enough interest among lake association members to pay to augment the DNR stocking of walleye on North and South Center?”. I have only caught two walleyes in the 11 years I have lived on South Center, so it doesn’t matter to me. I am just looking for ways Center Lakes Association can bring benefit to its members and lakeshore owners. And if you say stocking walleye in our lakes is important, we can pursue it. Thanks for your input! Mike Gray CLA President

Build Gravel Beds for Tree Planting (1-3pm with Great River Greening) Roast Hotdogs and Marshmallows Historic House Tours Digital Scavenger Hunt Interactice Water Game Geocaching Yard Games Board Games Prizes BYO..RWB...(refillable water bottle)

The latest edition of The Scuttlebutt from the Center Lakes Association is now available!

Join us for another evening of Music on the Water with Jo & Dan! Boat to the southwest corner of South Center Lake to hear some great live music sponsored by Generations Real Estate Group/Erin Thorvaldson and will be at the home of Lee & Tom Donlin.

Chisago County and the Wild Rivers Conservancy invite you to participate in Starry Trek, a statewide intensive search for the invasive starry stonewort in lakes and rivers in Chisago County. The event is on Saturday, August 20 from 8:30 – 1:30 p.m. at North Branch Central Park. (The County and Wild Rivers Conservancy are hosting one of the training sites around the state. The statewide event is coordinated by the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center.) At Starry Trek, you will receive training on how to look for and identify starry stonewort. Then you will be sent out to area lakes and rivers to search for the invasive species. After the search, volunteers will meet back at the park to report findings over snacks and refreshments! No experience or equipment is necessary to participate in Starry Trek. Expert training on monitoring protocols and starry stonewort identification will also be provided on-site. The event is free, but registration is requested. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. To register for Starry Trek, and for more information, please visit: www.StarryTrek.org/. For more information about the event, please contact Katie at the Wild Rivers Conservancy at 715-483-3300. *Starry stonewort is an invasive algae first found in Lake Koronis in 2015 and has since spread to over 14 lakes in Minnesota. Early detection of this species is critical for control. We hope you can take part in the event! *words by Susanna Wilson Witkowski | Water Resource Manager

Center Lakes Associations herbicide contractor, Lakes Management Inc. treated 13 acres on June 22,2022. Please see the treatment map of where it was treated for Eurasian watermilfoil. If you are out on the lake and notice balloon type markers it is from Lakes Management Inc. marking the area that was treated. Please do not remove!!!

Chisago County is having the Children's Water Festival in person again this year! They are planning the festival for September 22nd, 2022 at Wild Mountain near Taylors Falls. If you are interested in volunteering to help out, please fill out the form below and send to Susan Humble at susan.humble@mn.nacdnet.net

A feature story of Agate Magazine about living with Aquatic Invasive Species, including much of the latest science and actions people are taking to deal with AIS infestations. The end of the feature story highlights the success of our own North & South Center Lakes to battle against these aquatic invasive species. Check it out!

Take the “Are You a Lake Steward Quiz” to see how well you are protecting Minnesota’s lakes from your own backyard – and steps you can take to improving your impact on the environment As shoreline health continues to deteriorate, Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates takes initiative to protect the environment from further degradation. Do your part to help at North & South Center Lakes!

The latest edition of The Scuttlebutt from the Center Lakes Association is now available!