WEEDS, WEEDS, WEEDS
WHAT CAN WE DO?
WE HAVE A PLAN AND WE NEED YOUR HELP
At our annual meeting in June we discussed replacing our present 40 year old weed cutter with the Eco Weed Harvester that pulls weeds up by the roots. The August CLA newsletter asked our owners how we can raise the funds to obtain this new, more effective weed harvester.
A group of Caribou Lake property owners who are concerned about the increasingly thick weeds in the lake, and the damaging effects on our property values, approached the CLA Board in August with a proposal to raise the funds for a new weed harvester.
Five families from this group of Caribou Lake owners have pledged to give $5,000 each, and 15 more families have pledged to give $1,000 each.
Our Caribou Lake neighbors have already pledged $40,000! This is amazing! They are asking the rest of us who love Caribou Lake to match their pledges toward our goal to keep Caribou from becoming even more clogged with weeds. Their contributions are contingent on the rest of the owners around the lake contributing the rest of the funding.
The Eco Harvester we would like to purchase pulls weeds up from the roots, harvesting them to be recycled and reused as mulch. It’s an environmentally friendly way to harvest aquatic plants and the only harvester that works in this manner. All other aquatic weed harvesters cut the weeds. It is manufactured in Wisconsin and sold by Weeders Digest in New Hope, Minnesota. Two of our CLA members observed the Eco Weed Harvester in operation on Bass Lake in Plymouth, Minnesota and were impressed with how it was built and how well it worked.
Information about the Eco Harvester and videos of the harvester in operation can be viewed at: https://weedersdigest.com/eco-cutter-aquatic-weed-harvester/
We are asking YOU, our property owners to help us financially by pledging toward the project. Everyone on the lake has an interest in this and should contribute however much is reasonable for you. The important thing is to make it to $75,000. Please help us reach that goal during September.
Send your pledge form, or contact us at weedharvester@new.cariboulake.org
WE NEED TO REPLACE OUR 40 YEAR OLD WEED CUTTER
Again this summer weeds have been a major and growing problem in the lake. It has been impossible to hire someone to run the weed cutter due to full employment. Our older volunteers cannot manually unload our present cutter, and it is costing more each year in maintenance. Cutting weeds is like cutting grass, the weeds just keep growing. Pulling the weeds by the roots will give us longer lasting control and reduce the muck accumulation.
Weeds threaten our property values. No one wants to buy lake property where it is unpleasant to swim, difficult to run a boat, have their legs caught in long slimy weeds, or pull in several feet of weeds on a fishing hook. CLA has received calls from realtors asking us what is being done about the weeds in the lake, unfortunately we have not had a good answer for them this year.
Manually unloading the old cutter takes a lot of time and effort. The Eco Harvester not only pulls the weeds, but has an unloading mechanism. Therefore, in addition to the person who is hired to regularly run the harvester, there are residents who will volunteer to operate it at other times. We will need places around the lake to unload weeds so time doesn’t have to be spent taking each load over to NERC. Weeds make good garden mulch.
We will need a qualified person/resident to maintain and store the harvester. Several people have volunteered for this job.
The 22,800 we have raised through sales and donations will help fund the operation for the first several years and intensify harvesting until the weeds are in better control.
Funding has started, already 20 people have pledged $40,000! These pledges are dependent on other people around the lake contributing the rest of the funding. This is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to control the weeds in the lake. It would be money well spent, everyone who owns property on Caribou Lake has made an investment, if we allow Caribou Lake to deteriorate, our property values will go down, and eventually Caribou will become a glorified swamp.
If enough pledges come in during September we will have an informational meeting on October 6 at Pike Lake Community Church on Martin Road, 9:30 am. We hope to have enough pledges so we can order the harvester, have it built over the winter, and be ready to operate on Caribou at the beginning of June.
Questions? Ask at: weedharvester@new.cariboulake.org
– The DNR cutting map for Caribou can be seen on our website under the heading, “Useful Info” at cariboulake.org.
– Watch the funding thermometer on the CLA sign on the corner of Midway and Industrial Roads to monitor our progress..
To make your pledge, please send your pledge form, or make your pledge at weedharvester@new.cariboulake.org
CLA OFFICERS
President– Tom Marchand, 218-728-4549, tmarcha@msn.com
Vice President– Jowain Wallin, 218-729-8033, jowain@new.cariboulake.org
Secretary– Mary Manns, 218-729-0281, mmmanns@new.cariboulake.org
Treasurer– Julia Mader, themaders07@msn.com
Caribou Lake Association
P.O. Box 15097
Duluth, MN 55811
Caribou on the web:
cariboulake.org
weedharvester@new.cariboulake.org
Facebook/CaribouLakeAssociation
PLEDGE FROM FOR NEW ECO WEED HARVESTER ON CARIBOU LAKE
We are asking YOU, our property owners to help us financially by pledging toward the project.
Everyone on the lake has an interest in this and should contribute however much is reasonable for you. The important thing is to make it to $75,000. Please help us reach that goal during September.
_______________________ will pledge $______________ toward a new Eco Weed Harvester for Caribou Lake. This pledge is contingent on enough other pledges to purchase the Eco Harvester for next summer.
Date__________________ Send this from to: CLA, PO BOX 15097, Duluth, MN, 55811 or email at: weedharvester@new.cariboulake.org