Protecting and Preserving Long Lake
The Long Lake Area Association (LLAA) is a community-led organization dedicated to water quality, environmental stewardship, and responsible enjoyment of Long Lake in Hubbard County, near Park Rapids, Minnesota.
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Volunteer Spotlight
Volunteers are the life-blood of the LLAA’s and its Foundation’s efforts toward creating a vibrant lake community and promoting lake stewardship. Building and maintaining a strong financial foothold to promote and support that stewardship is key to our mission.
This month our Spotlight is on Jeff Schmidt. Thanks for all your hard work!
Relatively new to Long Lake, Jeff and his wife Amy bought a cabin on the southeast end of the lake in 2020 where they are seasonal residents. To learn more about the LLAA and contribute to the Long Lake community, Jeff has been volunteering with Treasurer Jim Seifert and the Finance Committee for nearly a year.
“This volunteer opportunity was a good fit for me,” Jeff said. His previous work with their church and an athletic booster club finance committee experience lent itself to volunteering his accounting and finance skills to the LLAA and Foundation. “It also allows me to participate and learn about the LLAA and its Foundation without needing to live at the lake full time,” he added.
“Jeff is a great example of how a volunteer doesn’t have to be in-person or an on-the-lake type of volunteer role,” explained Seifert. Jeff helps the Association and Foundation by providing important bookkeeping duties for the two organizations, Siefert explained. “Behind-the-scenes, help like Jeff’s ensures our organization meets the accounting and regulatory requirements that all non-profits have,” he added.
In addition to donating his time and skills to the LLAA Finance Committee, Jeff and his family are working on establishing a better lake buffer along their lakeshore. Thank you, Jeff.
The Long Lake Area Association is always looking for volunteers to share their talents to help protect the lake. Please contact volunteer@longlakeliving.org if you would like to be part of our volunteer group.
Environmental Stewardship
Environmental Stewardship is a term that encompasses many issues and possible actions that influence the water quality and future enjoyment of Long Lake. The LLAA, in its 50 years of existence, has focused purposefully on understanding approaches and engaging in actions that can help maintain Long Lake’s health while enhancing recreational use by property owners and visitors. Over the years, aquatic invasive species (AIS) have become a growing concern nationally, state-wide, and here in Hubbard County. Since its inception, the LLAA Foundation, at the direction of the LLAA, has funded many educational programs as well as preventative and treatment activities to fight AIS. Many members of the LLAA have also contributed time to support these efforts in collaboration with other organizations and governmental entities.
The LLAA Board of Directors received confirmation about the importance of Environmental Stewardship from the results of a survey conducted in summer 2024. When property owners were asked about their top five concerns regarding the lake quality (health) of Long Lake, over 90% noted AIS as their primary concern. (Report from property owners’ survey) Watch for updates from the Environmental Stewardship Committee, posted on our website under the environmental stewardship pages. You can contribute to the LLAA’s efforts to protect Long Lake’s quality and health into the future.
Take Action
Join the LLAA
Long Lake is a community of hundreds of summer and permanent residents, who not only enjoy “lake life” but also share a commitment to preserve the lake environment for the future. Membership in our Long Lake Area Association (LLAA) is paramount to the organization’s conservation efforts, especially educating lake residents about Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and ways to minimize their effect on Long Lake.
Donate to the LLAA Foundation
The mission of the LLAA Foundation is vital to protecting our lake. Your donations have contributed to the professional inspections and treatments to fight the spread of Starry Stonewort at the South access, supported testing for zebra mussels, provided hundreds of additional hours to supplement the Hubbard County watercraft inspections at our very busy North and South accesses, and funded the stocking of the lake additional walleyes and perch.
We cannot do this without your generous support! Thank you!