NEWS

May 22, 2025 – NEWSLETTER

The Conservancy was formed in 2023 by a group of Property Owners to study and understand the impacts of aquatic herbicide applications in our lake.  Since the beginning of these applications, some 20 years ago, the Chemical Application Contractor has had total freedom, within State approved application parameters, to determine what, how much, how often, and where the chemicals are applied.  An increasing number of our Loon Lake neighbors have expressed concern that the current aquatic herbicide applications have been overly aggressive, with concern for short and long term consequences for our lake’s health.  Many other lakes in Michigan, including our neighboring Long Lake, employ an independent Lake Ecology Consultant (LEC) to develop and oversee an overall lake health plan including chemical applications for weed control as needed.  Today we have no oversight of the applications being done and no way of knowing if those treatments are beyond the necessary.

Our top objective continues to be the employment of an independent Lake Ecology Consultant (LEC).  To make this happen we need 51% of the Property Owners to agree with that plan.  To date we have received responses from 101 of the 200 private property parcel Owners on the lake with 83 of them agreeing on the need for an LEC.  That’s 82% of our responding neighbors who are aligned with the objective. 

This spring our priority is to solicit the remaining ~100 parcel Owners for their input on the objective.  At this time, based on estimates from potential Lake Ecology Consultants, the increase in our annual assessment for “weed control” would be about $50 per parcel.  Over time, Long Lake has seen a DECREASE in their overall assessment as a result of the Consultant calling for a reduction in the amount of chemicals being applied by the Application Contractor (the same one doing Loon Lake).  Long Lake representatives have also told us the control of invasive aquatic weeds has dramatically improved after they employed their LEC.

Other Conservancy actions underway include:

1.    Participation in the 2025 Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program.  We have enrolled Loon Lake in this program and two of the Conservancy Members will be the volunteers for our lake. There is no cost involved for anyone on the lake.  The last time this was performed on Loon Lake was 2018.  For more information you can visit: https://www.micorps.net/lake-monitoring/

2.    Testing for presence of Chemical Contaminants.  The Conservancy is having a laboratory test core sediment samples from the lake as well as samples of fish flesh for residual chemical contaminants.  It is well documented that the copper contained in some of the aquatic herbicides do not biodegrade and it is harmful to aquatic life, especially spawning fish.  Costs of this testing will be funded by the Conservancy.  Results will be published on our website.

3.    Investigation of creating artificial rock spawning reefs.  The Conservancy has initiated a discussion with the Michigan DNR on the subject of installing artificial rock reefs in Loon Lake.  These underwater reefs provide excellent spawning structure for walleye, cisco, and smallmouth bass.  The structures would be placed at depths that present no hazards to navigation.  No structures can be created without agreement by the Property Owners whose riparian rights would be affected.  The presence of cisco in our lake may allow for funding assistance via a Federal Grant.  We will provide additional details as the study progresses. 

4.    NO TREATMENT ZONES.  If you DO NOT want your lakefront property treated with aquatic chemical herbicides in 2025 you can submit the request to PLM via e-mail.  PLM is the current Chemical Application Contractor.  We encourage you to do this if appropriate for your location.  You need to provide them with as much detail as possible so they can recognize your property from the lake such as lake address, lot number, identifiable features of your shoreline, and ideally photographs of your frontage.  Send the e-mail to michaelp@plmcorp.net  Contact us if you need help creating the drawing or e-mail and we will gladly assist.

5.    NOTE: The Michigan DNR began performing a Fishery Resource Study on Loon Lake beginning the week of May 18, 2025.  The last time this was performed was 2011.

May 25, 2024 – News from the Loon Lake Association Meeting

Members from our Loon Lake Conservancy team attended the Loon Lake Association (LLA) spring meeting on May 25th.  We know that many of you are not LLA members and so we thought we would share what we view as some key points as well as the next steps the Conservancy will take.

Mike Pichla from PLM (the current chemical application company) presented the most comprehensive information sharing of their work on Loon Lake that our team has ever seen.  Their presentation was beneficial in helping to understand today’s treatment.  The presentation is linked below.

Highlights from the meeting:

• A stocking of more mature walleye than the DNR plants is being investigated.  The LLA is accepting donations for this stocking program.
• If you wish to not have your property frontage treated with chemicals this year, send an email to michaelp@plmcorp.net.  Provide your address, a lakeside picture of your home and/or any identifying information that will help PLM avoid treating your frontage.  Specify, ‘No algae or weed treatment on my property frontage in 2024’.  Since native, beneficial plant species such as Large Leaf Pondweed, Misc. Pondweed species, and Wild Celery are regularly targeted by chemical treatment – even a small number of concerned property owners who refuse treatment could have a meaningful beneficial impact on vegetation cover for fish in Loon Lake!  We would be happy to share treatment maps from the previous decade with you, if interested.
• PLM was not able to precisely identify the “threshold” for treating “native nuisance weed growth”.  This continues to be of concern to us because it means that native vegetation will be killed based on a subjective evaluation by PLM. 
• PLM offered no theories on why over 50% of our Survey Respondents reported a decline in the fishery.  Likewise, no explanations were offered as to why many of us have observed numerous dead crayfish and a decrease in minnow, frog, and mud-puppy populations.
• PLM provided examples of what each property owner should do to minimize nutrient flow from our property into the lake.  Keeping lawn clippings, bonfire ash, leaves and fertilizers (even phosphorus-free) away from the shoreline is critical.  Essentially, we need to avoid practices that promote excess nutrient runoff into the lake, which can contribute to free-floating algae growth.
• The LLA distributed a paper titled “A Discussion to Address Your Concerns Will Herbicides Hurt Me”.  As with any information you should critically review the author and their intent. In this case the author is the CEO of a compliance organization that states “Our clients include multinational firms and small and medium-sized enterprises striving to introduce new and keep existing products in the global marketplace”. In this case “products” are aquatic herbicides on which they offer a favorable viewpoint. The paper is linked below.

Next steps for the Loon Lake Conservancy: 

1. We will contact representatives from Long Lake to better understand the history of their use of a Lake Ecology Consultant approach, the cost history, their response to why this approach is best, and how they implemented it.
2. We will research and contact Lake Ecology Consultants who would be interested in servicing Loon Lake.
3. We will investigate the cost of getting samples of fish flesh tested for toxin levels as well as the testing of sediment core samples for copper accumulation.
4. We will investigate the creation of “artificial fish habitat” and report our findings back to you.