Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Biologists with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission are surveying inland lakes of the Ojibwe Ceded Territories that includes the Upper Peninsula and northeast Wisconsin.
The Michigan lakes in Gogebic County included in the study are Chaney Lake, East Bay Lake, Lac Vieux Desert, Stateline Lake and West Bay Lake. The study includes 24 Wisconsin lakes in the Burnett, Langlade, Oneida, Polk, Vilas and Washburn counties.
Invasive species compete against native species and can result in displacing vital habitat, according to the commission, said Travis Bartnick, a wildlife biologist with the commission out of the Odanah, Wisconsin office. The study is to look for the presence of aquatic invasive species and assist natural resource managers with coordinating efforts to slow the spread and detrimental impact of invasive species to native ecosystems.
“Aquatic invasive species continue to spread to new waterbodies each year. It seems to be an issue that is not going away,” Bartnick said. “Much of the spread of AIS can be attributed to the transport of watercraft from one lake to another.”
The surveys that started in late June are part of an ongoing effort under the Early Detection Rapid Response component of a comprehensive invasive species program, he said. The surveys are designed for a select group of lakes to detect small or emerging populations of ecologically disruptive invasive species before they grow to cause environmental damage.
Rotational surveys occur on lakes of interest to the commission. Most often these are lakes that haven’t been surveyed in three to five years by the commission, the state Department of Natural Resources, county aquatic invasive species crews or student interns.
Other survey criteria are when the lake is important for tribal members concerning ogaa (walleye) and manoomin (wild rice) harvest, Bartnick said. Lakes with high visitation rates or in close proximity to lakes known to have invasive infestations also receive priority attention, he said.
“This list then goes out to various agencies and other partners for review,” Bartnick said. “We will receive feedback on whether any of the lakes have already been scheduled for surveys by other entities.”
Public and private boat landings are also priority areas for surveys, he said. The commission staff of two wildlife biologists conduct shoreline surveys from shallow water to the outer edge of the littoral zone, focusing on submergent, emergent and shoreline plants, as well as invasive animals, he said.
“The AIS crew also conducts rake tosses and D-net pulls at priority sites, such as around boat landings,” Bartnick said. “If priority species are found on a lake where it has been previously undocumented, a specimen will be collected, notes taken on location and habitat, and then sent to a state operated herbarium.”
Plankton nets are used to sample for zebra and quagga mussel veligers in the larvae and juvenile stages following state protocols with samples sent to the DNR, he said. An Ekman dredge is used to sample lake sediment for spiny and fishhook water fleas with samples studied by the commission staff.
“The crew also uses the opportunity to document wild rice populations, native and non-native phragmites populations,” Bartnick said. “The phragmites data is also shared with management partners in addition to the AIS data.”
The boats, trailers and other equipment used in lake surveys undergo disinfection and decontamination procedures to avoid transporting invasive plants or animals, he said.
Formed in 1984, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission represents 11 Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where there are reserved hunting, fishing and gathering rights established from U.S. treaties in 1837, 1842 and 1854.
The commission provides natural resource management and conservation enforcement in addition to supporting communities in the free exercise of treaty rights during regulated and off-reservation seasons throughout the treaty ceded territories.
For more information visit http://www.glifwc.org.