You too can be a Meanderer!

Help is needed with our Long Lake Neighborhood Aquatic Vegetation "Meanders" in Neighborhoods 1, 2, 5,and 6 for 2019.  Neighborhoods 3 and 4 have teams in place already.  We want to complete this by Labor Day while vegetation is still identifiable and present.  Please contact Sharon at 763-355-7908 to be part of the team to help protect Long Lake and/or to just learn to identify the vegetation at the end of your dock.

What is an Aquatic Vegetation Meander??  An aquatic vegetation meander is to go along the littoral area where vegetation grows in the lake in a watercraft in a pattern of choice to observe the vegetation in order to detect aquatic invasive species.  We are searching for the existence of AIS in Long Lake such as Starry Stonewort, Eurasion Watermilfoil, and Curly Leaf Pondweed.  If we find AIS early, there is a better chance for preventing its spread.

We boat slowly, peering into the water and sampling the aquatic vegetation where we don’t recognize the native vegetation.
You may use a rake, old fishing pole, or even a golf ball retriever to sample.
Polarized sunglasses help you see underwater better especially on a sunny, calm day.
One hour of training with Sharon will help you practice sampling with a rake, show you how to separate vegetation, and teach you to identify common vegetation in Long Lake.  We use our two professional surveys from 2011 and 2018 as our guide, see the link on our website: http://www.longlakeliving.org/p/plant-survey-2011.html