2002-03-12 P& Z Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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, To: Peltier Lake Shore Owners February 20, 2002 The future of Peltier Lake is in vour hands. Before vou make a decision, make sure vou have all the information. Do vou want to save the Heron rookery, or should we exterminate it? Choose carefullv, this is a one time onlv decision that probablv can't be reversed. You may have received a letter from Shelly and Henry Farmerie and they ask why I didn't have a Lake Association meeting. Shelly and Henry may not know this. Let me explain. When the slalom water-ski course was setup last summer north of the island, it broke an agreement moderated by the DNR and Anoka Parks. When I started asking a few people questions about the situation, I suddenly found Jerry and Cindy Lindne! on my doorstep threatening to sue me with everything they could think of. They also threatened to sue the Lake Association. Their threats were of such a nature that I had no choice but to quit talking to people. I didn't know what they were going to do next. I wanted to get people together to discuss it, but couldn't. How could I discuss something with someone whose immediate response was a law suit threat? Besides, if no government agency cared about the Herons, there was no point in doing anything. So I let the authorities decide what they wanted to do. It would be up to them, not me. It took them a while, but they did decide to take ownership of the issue. And I never pretended to represent the Peltier Lake Association. I was just a concerned citizen. You will not see Peltier Lake Association on any of my letters. Many people may not realize how sensitive and rare this rookery of roughly 800 Herons really is. It is the second largest in the 7 county metro area and the only one in Anoka county. These birds do not nest in backyards or even in a woods; they require a secluded, undisturbed, natural setting, and typically, only a wilderness island will do, as happens to be found here. Former rookeries on Rice Lake and Howard Lake were abandoned because of human disturbance. It doesn't take much and the birds leave. This island in Peltier Lake is rare indeed. Isn't it worth protecting? The DNR and Anoka Parks think so and, in 1998, they asked everyone to please avoid high speed boating and skiing north of the island to protect the rookery and enviromnent. Several wanted this to be an informal agreement to avoid formal regulation (see the meeting letter). I was discouraged when on July 7, 2001, I saw the slalom water-ski course setup again and in use right next to the rookery. When I asked about the agreement, they said they didn't agree to anything and they could do what they want. They insisted the birds were fine, but I didn't see a single bird anywhere. Normally, they are everywhere in that secluded area of the lake. The course was illegal because they didn't have a permit. I found out the course was rigged to submerge when they weren't using it so it could be kept secret and no one else could use it. It is crystal clear to me that the informal agreement did not work. The rookery has failed 2 years in a row and the DNR is worried that this may be the last chance to save them. If another slalom water-ski course is established north of the island in 2002, the rookery may well be deserted forever. I I I I I I L The DNR and Anoka Parks are proposing a no-wake (go slow) zone just south of the island that extends northward. There are no motor size or other limitations - only, go slow. There are a few houses on the north end that would be affected by this proposed no-wake zone. The DNR wants to give the Herons a bit of a buffer to high speed traffic so they have a good chance of succeeding on the island and that is why the proposed no-wake zone is slightly south of the island. Is it really too much to ask to give them a little space so the 800 birds will stay? And by space, all we mean is please go slow? If vou are in the proposed no-wake zone. please consider this: I would give iust about anything to have a no-wake zone at mv prooertv. I would love to have some kind of buffer to the high-speed boat traffic by my house. Many lakes actually have a 300-foot no-wake buffer zone all around their shore to protect the bottom sediments and the aquatic plants and the people. And fishermen and other boaters like kayakers should consider tllis: