Dear SCLA Members,
The purpose of this letter is to notify you that SCLA is planning to take additional steps in our effort to help control Yellow Flag Iris (YFI) on the Spider Chain of Lakes.
As we communicated to you last summer, after several years of unsuccessful efforts to manually remove YFI, SCLA funded a licensed contractor and obtained permission from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and affected property owners to treat YFI with an herbicide. Property owners were overwhelmingly supportive of the herbicide treatment program. Thirty-four sites were treated, all with property owner permission. Preliminary results are favorable. YFI has not reappeared in most of the treated sites. Thank you to everyone who supported this effort!
But our work is not done. This year we are funding the same licensed contractor to focus on sites that could not be treated last year, along with newly identified sites and previously treated sites where YFI plants may have re-emerged. The contractor will use manual herbicide application and targeted spraying, with spraying limited to very boggy areas where access is difficult or where YFI lives in large dominant clusters. Prior to the work, we will receive permission from property owners and the WDNR.
The cost of the 2024 treatment is estimated to be $4,000, which, consistent with its mission to preserve and protect the Spider Chain of Lakes, SCLA will cover. The 2024 work will be conducted in September at sites authorized by the WDNR and individual property owners. Additional treatments may be required in the future. This approach has been approved by the SCLA Aquatic Invasive Species & Water Quality Committee and by the Board of Directors. SCLA will coordinate the WDNR permit that covers affected parcels. We have notified the Town of Spider Lake and Sawyer County and we are in the process of notifying affected landowners of this plan. Prior to the work, written permission from each affected landowner to allow the licensed contractor to apply herbicide to YFI on their property will be obtained.
We do not take these steps lightly. The favorable results from the 2023 treatment demonstrate that this is the most effective, low impact way to get YFI under control. Click here to download a copy of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Click here to go to the "Take Action YFI!" SCLA webpage on this invasive, persistent shoreline plant, which includes links to WDNR and US Forest Service Fact Sheets. If you have additional questions please reach out to spiderchainoflakes@gmail.com, ATTN: AIS & WQ Committee Chair, or call Ray Langer (612-432-1757) or Larry Keller (651-343-8394).
Sincerely,
Ray Langer
Aquatic Invasive Species & Water Quality Committee Chair
