Newsletter: Issue 49
The Message
1)It was the morning of April 26, and I was mulling over what I should put into the next BMLA newsletter. As I was eating breakfast my thoughts were put on hold as I watched Canada geese, a Blue Heron, hooded mergansers, a pair of loons, plus many birds on shore. (During dinner the evening before, a kingfisher, an eagle, and a beaver passed by.) Yes, BML is incredible but it is also vulnerable! Thus, I decided it important to reference a message from the Spring 2023 CMSCWD Update on which the following is based:
Even as water quality metrics for phosphorus improve, some lakes are seeing fewer fish and less aquatic life due to vanishing lakeshore habitat. In 2022, the MPCA added local lakes to the impaired waters list and warned that Big Carnelian and Big Marine are at risk of biological impairment. It is known that small changes – removing trees, shrubs, and perennial plants, adding rock or sand beach along the shoreline: or building additions and lakeside patios can add up to big ecological impacts over time. As lakeshores become increasingly less natural, increased shoreline erosion, fewer fish and wildlife, more algae, diminished water quality, and less swimmable and fishable waters result.
2)The CMSCWD launched an intensive campaign in 2022 targeting the health of 10 priority lakes, including BML. The campaign involves monitoring habitats and development stressors on a parcel-by parcel basis. In spring 2023, the CMSCWD also partnered with the Washington Conservation District to engage and survey lakeshore property owners and conduct focus group discussions.
3)At the BMLA Annual Meeting on April 19, Mike Isensee of the CMSCWD detailed many of these
actions in a summary of the numerous activities
in which CMSCWD is engaged to help turn around negative trends on BML. The story presented by Mike Isensee was impressive as to work being done by the CMSCWD to address the improvement of BML. To see those actions, Google “Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District” and click on Website/Explore/Lakes & Streams/Big Marine Lake/Studies/April 19, 2023 Presentation Big Marine
Lake Watershed.
4)Thanks much to Tony Vavoulis and Jeff Dahlberg for their work to arrange and present the BMLA Annual meeting. It was a very informative, well-run meeting. Attendance was only 32 BML lakeshore property owners, which is disappointing considering the total number of BML lakeshore property owners is over 250. Attendance at annual meetings is important. General discussion including input and questions from meeting attendees can be of great value. Access to the Power Point presentation of the meeting is at: bigmarinelakeassociation.org/About/Conference & Seminar Notes/BMLA Annual Meeting 04.19.23.
Membership
Membership donations should be sent to –
BMLA
12636 - 182nd St. N.
Marine, MN 55047.
Minimum suggested donation is $50.00.
Or, payment can be made on the BMLA website.
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BMLA Website: bigmarinelakeassociation.org
The website is a source for newsletters, BMLA Board Meeting minutes, notes on AIS issues, and more.
E-mail: contactus@bigmarinelakeassociation.org
Our Neighbors
Mike Blehert and I each were instrumental in buying lots on BML in 1959. We both had a yearning for a lake place at an early age.
As a kid, I had frugally saved money from odd jobs such as lawn mowing, fence painting, babysitting, paper routes, and grocery store carryout to enable that desire.
When a high school senior in late 1958, I saw a real estate ad in the St. Paul Pioneer Press stating, “Lake lots for sale, 100 feet wide and 800 feet deep, $800.00.” I responded to the ad and then talked my brother (4 years my senior) into looking at the lots with me. We liked what we saw, my brother wanted to share in the investment, and we gave our dad a glowing report.
The three of us went to BML the following weekend. After touring the $800 lots, we were curious about what was further to the west down a path. About .5 mile down the path was a crude plywood sign stating, “Lot for Sale - Ralph Heaton, Realtor”, and a phone number. I called Ralph Heaton and learned that the lot in question was $2450. A revisit of the lot with Ralph led to the purchase in Jan., 1959.
My dad popped for the cost of building a 600 square foot cabin that summer. It was framed by
a contractor and finished by us.
In summer 1959, Mike was about to be a high school freshman, and his parents were discussing looking for some lake property. This was very exciting to Mike. He and his dad met Ralph Heaton at one of the $800 lots in July. Money earned by Mike cutting lawns, shoveling snow, etc. provided the $200 down payment. Ralph wrote an agreement on a note pad for Mr. Blehert to pay the balance with 3% interest over the next two years.
In the fall, Mike’s youngest brother began school, so his mom was able to return to teaching. This provided the extra income needed to build the house over the next two years. The Bleherts used the house on summer weekends in 1960 well before the upstairs was completed. Mike’s dad, brother, and he installed much of the sheet rock, the subfloors, and a big concrete patio.
Some of Mike’s best times were on the water in the early 60’s learning to water ski behind a 14’ Alumnacraft rowboat with an 18 HP Johnson.
BML meant many years of fun for the Blehert and Burton families. And, here we are today. Mike in what is still a summer place and Rich in a cabin upgraded to a year-around house in 2001.
Those stories should give a clue as to why Mike and I strive to keep BML a high-quality body of water.
Mike & Sue Blehert
Jackie Cronin & Rich Burton