We recently heard from the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation that they and Cass County will receive a grant that will help property owners place conservation easements on their property.  The grant will pay up to $15,000 of closing costs on the conservaton easement.  Please contact Mike Humrickhouse for more information.

 

This year the easements on four Wabedo Lake properties (three owners) were completed and are in effect.  With these easements, over 3,500 feet of shoreline has been protected from development and almost 70 acres of pristine shoreland. See the blue and yellow areas below:

 

 

We want to thank the families involved in these easements for their forward thinking and for providing such a valuable gift to future generations.  Thank you! !

 

We hope to go through the process for two other owners on Wabedo Lake and for two owners on Little Boy Lake.  We are looking primarily at properties that are included in the sensitive shoreline areas but will definitely not exclude other properties.  Again, please contact Mike with any sustainability questions.

 

 

The committee is providing assistance to some property owners on Wabedo Lake to help preserve their properties for future generations.  There are at least three property owners who are in the process of placing conservation easements on their properties to protect the pristine nature of these parcels.  Contact Mike Humrickhouse if you have any interest in protecting your property for future generations.

 

 

This committee was created in 2007 to address the long term sustainability and preservation of our lakes and surrounding areas.

 

They are currently reviewing data from a list of "Parcels with Conservation Potential" from Cass County.  These are parcels that are large enough to be developed into plats (dividing the existing property into multiple lots).  The intent is to provide information to the current owners of these parcels concerning their options for preservation and conservation of the land and critical habitat.  Our concern with these parcels is the possible degredation that can occur from splitting one parcel into many.  There are impacts from this type of development such as decrease in acquatic vegetation due to additional docks, shoreline degredation due to additional paths to the lake, run-off from lawns created by these new properties, etc.  It is the cumulative effect of development that creates concerns for long-term sustainability.

 

Other issues that this committee will address include shoreline restoration, watershed viability, acquatic plant restoration, and many others.