2002-03-06 P & R Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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-, Voted Citizen of the Year for Centerville for the year 20@0. - Participate in the Centerville Paik and Recreation Committee apd advocate community trails. I'ill a:fraid that virtually everything I've worked tor in trying to preserve and improve Peltier Lake is in jeopardy. Details - The Rookerv Peltier Lake contains a large ~derness island that used.to be home to ~lack-crowned Night Herons and a large number of Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and other bIrds. The shoreline areas of the lake to the north, east, and west of this island are also essentially wilderness. People rarely frequent these areas because the waters there are only 3 to 5 feet deep with a loose silty mud bottom and the area is packed with mostly beneficial aquatic plants. It is an ideal rookery. I believe it has been there a long long time. On July 7, the day I.encountered the slalom water-ski course in use north of the island, I did not see any Herons or Egrets north, east, or south of the island (I could not see west of the island). On July 8, the course was again in heavy use. On July 25, I did a careful survey and could not find any Herons or Egrets anywhere on Peltier Lake west, south, or east of the island. The Herons and Egrets seemed essentially gone for the season. There may be some here and there but for 22 years previous to 1998, I have always seen Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Black-crowned Night Herons from my house from spring to fall essentially every day. They land on the dock or fly to the delta at Clearwater creek about ~ mile away from my house. From my house since July 7, I did notseen any B1ack--crowed NightHerons,arcai Egrets, or GteatBlue Herons-for-aHeast3-weeks. Most significant, however, the Black-crowned Night Herons disappeared 3 years ago, exactly corresponding to the establishment of the first slalom water ski course. Whenever I have gone behind the island by the rookery, I notice that they are disturbed and flyaway. To me, it is quite clear that the activity of the slalom water-ski course disturbed the birds. The summer of 2000 also saw abandonment of the rookery sometime in June. The ONR estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 chicks died when the adults abandoned the rookery. I believe there are two possibilities. It might have been the 13SW road reconstruction, but it could easily have been slalom water-sId activity. In 2001, the slalom water-sId course was concealed and difficult to see. In 2000, it could well have been setup and in heavy use and no one noticed. I would like to know if anyone saw the USe of a slalom water-ski course north of the island in 2000. That area is not easy to see from the main part of the lake (which is why the birds like it). North, east and west of the island, most vegetation consists of native beneficial aquatic plants such as coontail. An image showing the course cutthrough these aquatic plants is available to anyone via www.maoauest.com. Type in "Peltier Lake" with zip code 55038, pick one of the results and recenter upward (northward) to the top of the island. Click.on the "Aerial Photo" tab. Right click it and do a "save as" and lighten the image to better see the track. The ski track is almost horizontal just north of the island angled slightly upward (see dashed line in the image on page 1) and the right hand end has a counter clockwise curl where the ski boats turn around. Details - Slalom Water-ski Course Impact Almost everyone on the lake lives south of the island with the westem shore belonging to Anoka County Parks. The area south of the island is narrow and small. Reter to the map oiPeltier Lake with a slalom water ski course drawn to scale. In the center, is the course (with its 22 buoys) and two turnaround ends (which could optionally contain another 6 buoys). Surrounding it all is a buffer of 150 feet. The total estimated impact footprint for a course with a short turn around is about 2,300 feet by 400 feet and for a course with a long turn around, 2,500 feet by 400 feet (course data from www.iwsf.com). The geography of Peltier Lake does not allow tor easy placement of a course without severely hampering other users of the lake. People tend to fish in a trolling circle around the lake south of the island right through the areas where the two vertical courses are shown. With a slalom water-ski course on either the east or west side of the lake, the fishing area is essentially reduced by almost half. Because Peltier Lake is long and narrow instead of circular, the placement of a slalom water ski course anywhere dramatically affects the ability of others to use 'he lake. There is no re~on relatively smaIl Peltier Lake should dedicate 2,300 teet by 400 teet to such a resource hogging specialized activity tor one boat.