This message is to remind you of the Garfield Lake Association’s 4th Annual Membership meeting this coming Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 10:00 am to be held at The Woodshed bar/restaurant in Laporte. We will meet both “live, in-person” at The Woodshed and on the teleconferencing app ZOOM. We will send you that ZOOM link later this week.
I have attached to this message the agenda for that meeting and encourage you to take a look at it. We have attempted to give you an update of the several projects we are working on but if you have further questions you would like to address, please let us know. The meeting will last less than 90 minutes.
We are looking forward to seeing you either “live” or on ZOOM. Thanks for your support in Keeping Garfield Healthy!
However, here is a quick summary of what we discussed at the meeting.
1. We have received the 2021 dues from 37 of our 54 members. Please send your $30, 2021 dues to Garfield Lake Association, PO Box 31, Laporte, MN 56461
2. We will publish articles on Ways to Keep You Septic Tank Healthy and Hubbard County guidance on the proper use of fertilizers two times per year each.
3. We will also post this information in Craig’s Store (Laporte Grocery) in Laporte for the benefit of non-members.
4. We hope the 2020 Garfield Fish Survey will be published by the DNR next month, May 2021 and expect it to show a significant reduction in all fish sizes in the lake.
5. Hart Lake Township has approved support for 2022 AIS boat launch monitoring for $1,250.
6. Bill and Dan have set out 3 loon nests on the lake.
7. We have declined to be part of the Lions Club fishing tournament this July as it goes outside of our Mission Statement.
8. We continue to look for ways to encourage all fishermen to keep small northerns. We want to work with the Take A Kid Fishing event of June 5 encouraging the use of non-lead tackle.
9. Our GLA annual meeting will be held Saturday, June 5, at 10:00 at the Woodshed Bar. It will be both in person and broadcast on Zoom.
10. Dan was able to, once again, get bicycles that we can sell with all profits going to AIS boat inspection.
11. We have chosen not to participate in this year’s Laporte Days events.
12. We discussed the benefits of becoming an IRS 501(c)3 charitable organization and how we will look further into this.
13. Bill, Jean and Charlie’s 3-year term is up this year and may or may not run again. We are looking for individuals who wish to be Board members.
14. We have GLA Can Koozies to give to local bars for Bargo games and to sell.
15. The City of Laporte put the City dock in on April 21st.
16. Ron will contact the port-a-potty and city dock trash services to start their pick-ups.
17. Charlie will be sending out the notice on Zebra Mussel sampling tubes, outlining when and where how to hang them.
18. Next meeting to be held May 19, 2021.
We encourage you to read the full text of the meeting. Please don’t hesitate to contact any of the Board members if you have comments and or questions about issues of the lake. We thank you for your participation and efforts in “Keeping Garfield Healthy”!
For your convenience I listed below is a quick summary of what we discussed at the meeting. I encourage you to go to the website and read the full meeting information:
1. A review by the Commissioner of Hubbard County Soil and Water Conservation District outlining the presence of E. coli in Kabakona river.
2. A review of events of the July 4th Laporte Days along with an interest by the Lions Club in having a fishing event.
3. Continued discussion on how we can keep our members and non-members of the importance of routine maintenance of their septic systems.
4. Continued discussion on understanding the cause’s and solutions for why our lake gets so green in the fall. A great article published in the Minneapolis tribune.
6. Details of Lakeport Township financial support of our 2022 AIS boat landing inspection and expect Hart Lakes support of the same.
7. Details about the 3 loon nests to be in the water for 2021.
8. Impact of lead fishing gear and how we can communicate that to our membership.
9. Continued discussion on how to reduce the number of small northerns in our lake.
9. The possibility of a “Laporte Mailbox” providing lake information to our non-members.
10. Due for the 2021 season are due and will be the same as last year, $30.
11. Ways to have the 2021 Garfield Lake Association Annual Meeting
12. Board Members term expiration 2021 and looking for other interested members.
If you would like to communicate to the Garfield Lake Association Board feel free to do so. The contact information is on the website as well as the phone numbers of the Board members. We appreciate your questions and comments.
Further work on understanding if and or why Garfield is so green in the fall. Is this normal as some think or is this condition getting worse? We are looking for historical data to help us understand. And the Startribune published an article that helps explain what may be happening.
The need for the GLA to be represented at each of the 2 Townships this March 2021 for consideration of their continued contribution to AIS monitoring at the Garfield Boat Launch.
Dates for the 2021 July 4th Laporte Days and Fireworks
Board Members term expiration 2021 and looking for other interested members.
If you would like to communicate to the Garfield Lake Association Board feel free to do so. The contact information is on the website as well as the phone numbers of the Board members. We appreciate your questions and comments.
For many years the thinking with sunfish was you could never take too many to hurt the fishery. But as many of you who fish for sunfish on Garfield Lake have seen in the last few years there are not the large (8-9”) sunfish that we used to catch. Looking at the data from Lake Finder the fish survey results confirm what most people who fish for sunfish are seeing.
2010 and 2015 DNR Fish Survey
The DNR did another fish survey of Lake Garfield in 2020 and we hope the results will be available sometime in May 2021.
Garfield Lake is not the only lake seeing results like 68% of our bluegill fish being in the under 5-inch range. And because of this the DNR has been testing a sunfish program (the term sunfish includes 6 different species including bluegills but does not include Crappies). The program has been around for about ten years. The results have been very positive for these lakes. Some lakes change their limit to 10 fish, and some went to 5. Those that went to 5 had a significant improvement in the size and number of pan fish in the lake.
The DNR is now rolling the program out to more lakes. The Garfield Lake Association has been working on having Garfield included in the next round of lakes to test this program. Initially, Hubbard County was granted three lakes which are part of the Crow Wing chain. The DNR has now added two more lakes in Hubbard County which could become part of the program. Garfield and 1st Crow Wing are now being recommended. The DNR program manager is now reviewing these recommended lakes and will make a decision in 2021 to be implemented in 2022.
In summary, the studies of the lakes that have reduced their sunfish catch to 5 have shown very good results. Small sunfish bred small sunfish and will continue to reduce the size and quantity of our sunfish on the lake. However, big fish bred big fish which is why we are requesting a limit of 5. I think it is time we bite the bullet and move to 5 sunfish a day or forever have under 5-inch sunfish.
I have shown below a quick summary of what we covered at the meeting, but I encourage you to go to the web site and read it in a bit more detail.
New property owners on Lake Garfield with new parcels being sold. We’re hoping they will join us in the GLA.
Different ways we can encourage good Lake Stewardship with our membership including septic tank education as well as the awareness of proper fertilizers to use.
Historical surface water transparency data showing lake water clarity over time.
Update on our new Conservation Officer, Mike Cross.
A start of understanding what is causing the “green water slime” in late fall.
The great news that Garfield is one step closer in getting approval on the Sun Fish Reduction program. “Big Fish Bred Big Fish”
Great news that due to the efforts and coordination of several members of the Garfield Board all funds for continued AIS Boat Landing inspection have been approved and budgeted for 2021.
Is there benefit in getting a professional vegetation study on Garfield?
9. 3 loon nests for 2021
10. The status of the GLA flag
11. Is there enough interest by the City of Laporte to keep the portable toilet open and usable thru the winter.
I would like to especially thank Bill Karsten, Mark Warisch and Dan Fitch for their time, effort and follow thru in getting the State of Minnesota, Hubbard County, Lakeport Township and Hart Lake Township to help fund the AIS Boat Landing inspection cost for 2021. The Garfield Lake Association is contributing $1,250 to this program. But thanks to these guys efforts and the understanding of these other entities and their leaders, Garfield will get over 8 times that amount in AIS inspection assistance. Great work guys!
This is an update of the 2021 Boat Landing AIS Inspection program for Garfield Lake based on the latest updates from all participating entities.
We have recently received notification from the Hubbard County Environmental Specialist, Nick Macklem, who administers the Hubbard County Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Program. He has received the state funding for the 2021 program and allocated it the participating lakes. The detailed information can be found on his link to the Hubbard County AIS Webpage.
During this past year, the following entities have continued to partner with the GLA in funding supplemental AIS Inspection hours for our landing:
City of Laporte
Lakeport Township
Hart Lake Township
We appreciate, as lake shore owners, the commitment shown by the surrounding communities who also appreciate the lake.
The 2020 program lost some state contribution mid-year due to budget constraints related to the pandemic, but it still was the largest hours of inspection time we have received since the program began. The 2021 program hours exceed this past year. The following chart summarizes the funding of the program since inception including this coming year:
The contributions for supplemental funding are generally made in January, this years deadline is January 31, 2021. The GLA will make its’ contribution this month and works with the city and townships to assure they also meet the deadline.
As a reminder, the GLA’s contribution is funded by the fundraising efforts in 2019 and has not been funded by GLA dues. This effort funded 3 years of contributions and more fundraising will be needed for the 2023 program year.
In the following link you will find the minutes of our GLA Board meeting from last Wednesday, November 18, 2020. It will take you to our Garfield Lake Association website where along with many great pictures of Garfield and wildlife around Garfield, you can find interesting information about AIS, DNR fish survey, water quality and a host of other local interests regarding our lake.
Items we discussed during this Board meeting included: zebra mussel tube findings for 2020; a start of historical water transparency baseline information; the importance of maintain your septic systems; when a new Conservation Officer might be assigned to Garfield; a GLA flag for those who would like to order one; sunfish reduction plan status; AIS funding for 2021 and plans for our Garfield loon nest for 2021.
Our hope is that we can use this website as a focal point for both technical data and historical information regarding Garfield as well as a place for our members to share photos and or comments about our lake. A couple of more recent posts to the website include:
Tom’s ideas on cooking northern pike, with the hope you will take more of the small ones out of the lake,
We hope that our membership will use it and add comments or questions they might have regarding Garfield. If you have not already done so, please take a moment and take a look and leave a comment or thought. The link is: https://garfieldlakeassociation.com/
Enjoy the holidays and we wish “safety” for you and your families during these holiday times.
This information is from the Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Associations (HC COLA) regarding an annual survey administered by them:
Many thanks to the 135 individuals who completed the 2020 Eyes on the Water Survey. And thanks to everyone who monitored their lakeshores, equipment, accesses and the lake itself for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS).
While invasives continue to threaten Minnesota’s lakes, Hubbard County lakes are still relatively invasive-free.
As “first responders” you play a key role in locating AIS on your lake. Early detection has proven to be an effective way of stemming the subsequent spread of AIS to other lakes.
The following new infestations were detected in 2020: Long Lake – zebra mussels Big Mantrap – eurasion water milfoil Boulder – faucet snails
Here is some information on the Trophic State Index which summaries a lake’s nutrient richness.
Trophic State Index as defined by Wikipedia:
The Trophic State Index (TSI) is a classification system designed to rate water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity they sustain.[1] Although the term “trophic index” is commonly applied to lakes, any surface water body may be indexed.
The TSI of a water body is rated on a scale from zero to one hundred.[1] Under the TSI scale, water bodies may be defined as:[1]
oligotrophic (TSI 0–40, having the least amount of biological productivity, “good” water quality);
mesoeutrophic (TSI 40–60, having a moderate level of biological productivity, “fair” water quality); or
eutrophic to hypereutrophic (TSI 60–100, having the highest amount of biological productivity, “poor” water quality).
The quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other biologically useful nutrients are the primary determinants of a water body’s TSI. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus tend to be limiting resources in standing water bodies, so increased concentrations tend to result in increased plant growth, followed by corollary increases in subsequent trophic levels.[a] Consequently, trophic index may sometimes be used to make a rough estimate of biological condition of water bodies.[2]
Garfield Lake Data:
Nutrient richness ranges from clear lakes low in nutrients to green lakes with high nutrients . 0 is clear to 90 which is very green Garfield Lake is at 42
Lakes in the same eco-region range 38-45
Chlorophylla: Garfield is at 52 parts per billion
Lakes in the same eco-region ranges 44-53
Total phosphorus:
Garfield is at 42
Lakes in the same eco-region ranges 42-52
Lake transparency for Garfield’s trend line is 11-13 feet
Record of lake levels for Garfield 2009 -2018
Lowest September 2013 – 1311.2 feet above sea level
Highest August 2014 – 1312.4 feet above sea level
So the range is 1.2 feet from highest to lowest water level
