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Shoreline fires food for thought, algae:
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| By: John Plaza, Chetek |
September 02, 2009 |
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Lakes Chetek, Prairie, Ojaski, Ten Mile, Moose Ear and Pokegama are called the "Chetek Chain" and represent Wisconsin's most interesting shallow lakes. They are fertile and can grow a lot of algae. Algae forms the food base for small animals called zooplankton.
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Zooplankton feeds the small fish, which feed the big fish that feed anglers and their families.
As important as algae is to the food chain, we've all seen how too much algae is bad. Excessive algae causes the formation of scum, foul odors, low oxygen in water and offensive views. Kids don't take kindly to it either; and having good vision, they typically avoid green waters that possibly remind them of spinach.
What does this have to do with shoreline fires? And how can my little fire hurt a big lake like the Chetek Chain? The answer is simple: Ash feeds algae!
Fire creates ash waste and wood ash contains nutrients required by plants for growth. Gardeners tout the virtues of adding ash to the garden. On average, the burning of wood results in about 8 percent ash. Ash contains 1 to 2 percent phosphorus, 5- to 10-percent potassium and trace amounts of iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc. It's the phosphorus component in ashes that stimulates algae growth. Here are a few quick facts:
* One ton of wood produces 160 pounds of ash,
* 160 pounds of ash produces 2-½ pounds of phosphorus,
* 2-½ pounds of phosphorus generates 1,250 pounds of wet algae.
Whose shore will it wash up on?
Don't build a brush pile high with leaves, tree limbs or clean scrap wood on the shoreline. Help your lake by burning away from the shore, where ash won't blow or wash into the lake. Thirty-five feet is a good distance. Shoreline burning also kills vegetation and changes the soil structure with the end result being more soil erosion into the lake. So, set that fire back from the water's edge. Use a fire pit.
It's a big job protecting and restoring the chain. Recent successes with the walleye demonstrate the power of community partnerships with citizens and agencies working toward a common goal. Many reports of 10-inch walleye are being caught by pan fishermen and reported for 2007, which we believe is a result of last year's stocking of fingerlings.
However, forces continue to threaten the system's health, like replacing wildlife habitat along shorelines with walls, rock and lawn up to the water's edge; wetland erosion due to artificially manipulated water levels, fertilizer runoff, bacteria and sediment that continues to degraded water quality; and residential development that causes natural views to disappear.
Safeguarding our lakes is a big challenge. But like the answer to the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer is, "One bite at a time." If we take our own small bites out of the problems facing the Chetek Chain, we can ensure clear water, more wildlife and a healthy fishery.
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©The Chetek Alert 2009
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