< PLM Lake Treatment – New Invasive Threat Identified | Six Mile Lake Association

PLM Lake Treatment – New Invasive Threat Identified

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Variable Leaf Milfoil (VLM)

Greetings Members,

This is to inform you that PLM will be treating Six Mile Lake this week for eurasion water milfoil and variable leaf milfoil, the latter being the latest threat to our lake. My search engine results revealed page after page of lake associations and government bodies across the U.S. trying to get a handle on the variable leaf milfoil, which can become invasive in some lakes and is more difficult to eradicate than eurasion water milfoil. This aquatic weed looks like coon-tail with a red stem sticking about six inches out of the water and can get so thick and matted that boats cannot navigate through it primarily because it grows in shallower water near shorelines in six feet of water or less.

To be clear, Six Mile Lake will never be free of invasives whether it be the ewm or zebra mussels, or purple loosetrife to name a few, but if we all stick together and do our part, we can continue on the path to keeping Six Mile Lake as pristine as possible even though we all suspect that a wide arrange of invasives are headed our way in the future whether it be through the government’s lax enforcement of the ballast dumping laws in the Great Lakes (which has introduced many of the invasives seen today), to people emptying aquarium water in our lakes containing exotic plants from foreign countries, to boats putting in at Six Mile Lake from other lakes carrying pieces of milfoil, zebra mussels, to weeds making their way into Six Mile Lake from Scott and Beal lakes which also have weed infestations, etc. This is our future. Fortunately, we have the SAD, something no other lake on the Chain has.

The SAD, or Special Assessment District, has generated funds that can help eradicate many of these weeds that threaten the navigational waters of Six Mile Lake, as well as, the native aquatics in our lake. Some of our shoreline that has become choked with the variable leaf milfoil will see some relief from the treatment scheduled for next week. (Watch for notices on your trees). You can help by raking the dead and dying weeds out of your frontage. Do not cut them and let them float out into the lake to wash up on someone else’s shore. Make sure your septic is working properly, plant a greenbelt or water garden, reduce or eliminate fertilizing your lawn. If you can’t do a lot then do a little because every little bit helps all of us. Although the treatment for variable leaf milfoil is different than for eurasion water milfoil, we will have enough funds to treat this year, and unlike other lakes on the Chain, the actions the property owners of Six Mile Lake have taken in the past guarantee us and the lake we love a relatively positive future!

Until next time,

Cherie Hogan

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