Research Continuing on Millecoquins Lake
By Paul Gingras

By Paul Gingras

"Lake Millecoquins is a fish factory," said Jim Rutledge, a member of the Lake Millecoquins Improvement Committee, an organization struggling to discover a method to control the lake's massive aquatic weed growth without damaging Garfield Township's premier recreational area. The weed is common water milfoil and it is choking the lake.

Following a July 12 public meeting at the Naubinway Pavilion concerning lake conditions, the committee decided to combine mechanical harvesting with chemical treatment to reduce the weeds, but no sooner had Mr. Rutledge delivered this decision to the Garfield Township Board of Trustees than further research brought the plan to a halt.

Continuing research led Mr. Rutledge to Dr. Doug Pullman of the Flint-based Aquest Corporation. Dr. Pullman said the milfoil may be a hybrid that could regenerate at an exceptionally high rate if disturbed. Now, the lake board is waiting on the results of Dr. Pullman's DNA sampling to find out how the weeds are likely to respond to mechanical harvesting.

"Before we do anything, we want to know what we're dealing with," Mr. Rutledge said. "I thought we were finished when we talked to the township, but we're back to the drawing board. That's all right, though. The last thing we want to do is make things worse."

Research on the lake has been intense. At the public meeting, the lake board presented the findings of Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, a group which conducted a grid survey in May to generate ideas for managing the lake's overgrowth of native plants, like common milfoil. Lake Millecoquins, Mr. Rutledge said, does not have Eurasian milfoil, a non-native cousin that has infected Cedarville Bay and many inland lakes in the state.

Tip of the Mitt, which focuses on natural solutions to environmental problems, recommended mechanical harvesting, but the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also warned the committee that fragmentation of the milfoil could cause it to spread and worsen.

Ninety-six percent of the lake bottom is covered with weeds, which is unusual, Mr. Rutledge said. Further, the lake is shaped like a bowl. There are no deep channels or drop-offs, so light reaches the bottom. This allows 40 percent of lake floor to fill with common milfoil. The rest hosts a variety of 30 to 40 native weeds.

Chemical treatment also presents its own set of problems, Mr. Rutledge added.

The Lake Improvement Committee doesn't want to pursue a course of action that could lead to a problem, and members don't feel they can safely treat more than 100 acres a year. Lake Millecoquins contains 1,800 acres, and even if the committee could afford to treat the entire lake at once, it would effectively kill everything, Mr. Rutledge said.

When weeds die, they contribute to the aging of the lake, he explained. Dead material furthers its transition into a marsh ecosystem, and this would be a significant loss for Garfield Township, because Lake Millecoquins is a tremendous fishery right now, he said.

To enhance the fishery, the DNR will plant 35,000 young walleye every two years, and a bullhead removal program is also in place. Bullheads are "rough fish" that feed on the eggs of game fish.

"We removed 1,000 pounds of them this spring," Mr. Rutledge said. "This year, there have been a lot of bluegill, perch, and other species of game fish."

The premature aging of Lake Millecoquins may also be fueled by a dam installed in 1965.

"Basically, it is just a rock pile," Mr. Rutledge said, "a big rock pile. There is no way to adjust the water level, so the lake can't clean itself out."

Rather than being flushed out each year, the water level rises every spring, bringing in large amounts of sediment that settles to the bottom. This sediment fuels the next batch of weeds. Amodern dam would include means to adjust the lake level during times of high flow, reducing sedimentation and possibly slowing the proliferation of weeds that is aging the lake, he added.

The Hiawatha Sportsman's Club, whose members own approximately two-thirds of the shoreline, have contributed to the improvement of Lake Millecoquins. At the regular township meeting, Monday, July 17, the club's board amended its budget to include a $5,761.21 donation to pay for the Tip of the Mitt study.

The lake improvement committee is holding off on raising more money until a control method can be agreed on. It hopes to bring Dr. Pullman to Garfield Township for a closer look.

"We can't seek grants until we have specific plan of action," Mr. Rutledge said. "We should have that before the end of summer."

Once the plan is in place, the township board will apply for the grants on behalf of the Lake Improvement Committee, said Linda Bennett, township clerk.