All three Cullen Lakes were treated for curlyleaf pondweed (CLP) this April and May and extensive surveying by members of the CLA Board and the DNR indicate good results across the lakes. 

More than 20 acres of Lower Cullen were treated by our contracted applicator, Professional Lake Management (PLM), on April 27 based on surveying done this spring by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  The DNR surveyed Lower Cullen as part of the grant we received from them and the costs of this treatment will be reimbursed. 

  The Lower Cullen acreage treated this year is about half of the area treated last year, which reflects the success of the treatments in controlling this invasive plant.  Areas in which the CLP matted on Lower this year were minimal, as compared to extensive matting about three years ago, prior to treatment, which severely restricted boat travel in some areas.  Because of the nature of this invasive plant, it will never be eliminated from our lakes and diligent monitoring, with appropriate treatment, will always be needed to maintain good control. 

Upper Cullen was treated on May 5 and applications covered nearly 19 acres.  Residents report much less CLP than last year, though it remained viable in some areas that were heavily infested in previous years.  Middle Cullen had 6 acres treated on May 17, primarily near the link to Upper Cullen with other scattered areas on both the North and South shorelines. 

Treatment dates for the three lakes vary due to the speed at which the lakes warm up after the ice goes out.  It is normally recommended that treatment be completed before the water temperatures exceed 60 degrees F.  Thanks to Paul and Phil Reichenbach we were able to keep a close eye on water temps, especially on Middle Cullen.

For the second year, John Szafranski headed up an effort to survey all three lakes and create maps that use GPS coordinates to document CLP growth.  This must be done in late June/early July, as CLP dies back in mid to late July and can no longer be seen.  This die-back process puts nutrients into the waters that foster increased growth of other plants.  Szafranski will provide this information to the DNR and we continue to work with them to use with information in determining where CLP should be treated the next year.  This information was especially useful this year on Middle Cullen and helped determine how much and where to treat this spring.
 
A significant issue with the treatment of CLP is pinpointing where the invasive has started to grow at the beginning of the spring season, which is when it must be treated-–before native plants begin growing. Getting detailed maps in place this season to guide this process is a necessary step to improve our success next year.  This fall Board members will meet with PLM and with the DNR to initiate discussions and put plans in place for next year.


A new law that went into effect July 1 requires boaters to remove the plug and drain water before leaving any lake or river in Minnesota.  If your boat is not in the water or on your boat lift, its plug must be out.  If you are found transporting a boat with its plug in you are subject to a sizable fine.  Boaters are also required by law to:

*Remove aquatic plants and zebra mussels from boats and trailers.

*Drain all water, including pulling the drain plug, open water draining devices, and draining bilges and live wells.

*Drain bait buckets when exiting lakes that have been designated as infested with spiny water flea or zebra mussels.  Anglers can keep unused bait when leaving infested waters if they replace the water with tap or spring water.

Do your part to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species!



The 29th Annual Meeting of the Cullen Lakes Association will be held Saturday, August 14 at the Nisswa American Legion. 

Registration and the opportunity to mingle with other CLA members and view exhibits begin at 4 p.m.  The annual business meeting will begin at 4:30 and includes time for member questions.  A social time will follow the business meeting and a buffet dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.  Pre-paid reservations are required for the dinner; meeting announcements with a dinner reservation form were mailed to all members on July 9. 

The business meeting will include a special presentation on wildflowers by photographer Doug Livingston and the presentation of the 2010 Lake Friendly Shoreline Awards and the 2010 Most Improved Shoreline Award. 

New exhibits this year will show CLP treatments this spring and highlight the new boating regulations that went into effect July 1 to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species between lakes.

At registration, attendees will receive a booklet with 2010 financial information and reports from the CLA committees.  Members will be asked to approve the 2011 budget and vote their support for the revised Lake Management Plan, included in this newsletter for your review.  The Lake Management Plan guides actions of the CLA Board and is updated every five years based on current issues and practices and the results of the property owners survey, which was conducted in February this year.  
 
Your attendance and participation in the Annual Meeting are encouraged.  If you did not receive the mailing and wish to attend the dinner, please contact Carol Lindahl at 218-963-9806 for a registration form.  No reservations are needed for the meeting and to view the exhibits.


Iffy weather on the Fourth of July was most likely the cause of a decrease in the number of boat parade participants this year. 

Denny Opsahl, Upper Cullen, said he and his family didn’t get out for their annual July 4 pontoon ride around the lake this year, a lake tour that usually constitutes the Upper Cullen boat parade.

Charlie and Marie Boudrye, Middle Cullen, said there were  14  boats  in  their  boat parade, down about 10 boats from the usual number.  No one contacted by the newsletter editor had photos of the parade, so none are included in this article this year


The Lower Cullen boat parade had 36 participants, down from the low 40s the previous two years.  Boats included pontoons of all sizes, speedboats, large and small fishing boats, and even a flag waving father-son duo on a jet ski slowly following the boat in front of them. 
 

As many of you may know, if you want to discuss a topic that will bring out a lot of varying opinions, bring up the channel between Middle and Lower Cullen Lakes.  Through the years, starting long before I began to come to the lakes in 1991, there have been heated discussions, complaints to the DNR, accusations thrust about, even letters to state legislators -- all about the channel and the changes in its navigability.

You will hear some people who have been on the lakes for decades say they used to always be able to get through the channel with their boat or pontoon.  Others will say there were years when they had to walk their rowboat through the channel and even for a ways into Lower Cullen Lake because of the low water or shifting sand and debris.

This channel has varied greatly through the last 100 years and except for alterations made to it before there were any rules regarding such things, the only proven human “alteration” on/along its shores was the placement of large rocks to help control the erosion that was taking place.  This project was done in the late 1990s through a DNR and Crow Wing County Lakes and Rivers Alliance (LARA) grant received by the owners of the properties adjacent to the channel.  All other changes to the channel are due to nature -- beaver activity, water level fluctuations, and sediment and debris deposited by the current. 

These natural changes do affect the ability of watercraft to navigate through the channel opening at the Lower Cullen end and out into the lake itself, a favorite swimming area of the lake due to its extreme shallowness.  Your lake association’s Board of Directors receives requests from time to time from Cullen Lakes properties owners asking it to “do something about the channel” or “restore the channel.”

The CLA Board of Directors has long believed there is nothing the lake association can do regarding the channel.  First, the land (including the channel bottom) is private property.  Second, even if it were possible to widen or deepen the channel, such actions would have long term negative effects on the water levels of all three Cullen lakes and would have a negative effect on the water quality of Lower Cullen Lake.

Nevertheless, we checked once again with the DNR Department of Waters in Brainerd.  Here is what we learned:

*Nothing can be put into the channel or removed from it without a permit.

*The owners of the property along the channel would have to apply for any desired permit.

*For the lake association to do anything to the bottom or sides of the channel, it would need the approval of the property owner(s) as well as a permit issued by the DNR to the appropriate property owner(s).  

*If a permit were issued by the DNR to one of the property owners, that property owner would only be allowed to do the work allowed by the permit on his/her own shoreline out to mid channel (each property owner owns the channel bottom out to the middle of the channel).

I doubt the information in this column will put this issue to rest, but perhaps it will give you a little better understanding of things.  Until nature starts to provide a few years of average or above average precipitation, the water level is not going to rise in the Cullen Lakes chain.  We will just have to adjust.


Middle Cullen Lake’s Wilderness Resort Villas was before the Pequot Lakes planning commission on July 15 with an application for a second amendment to its Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and a new Preliminary Plat of the resort.  According to the Staff Report, “Representatives from Wilderness Resort Villas have indicted that market conditions have forced a change in the overall approach.  While the number of structures to be built has not changed, the structures themselves are being split into multiple dwelling units.”  In order to facilitate the proposed new structures being divided into twinhomes, the size of the structures has been increased from 1,680 square feet plus deck to 2,576-2,752 square feel plus deck.  The new coverage of ground by structures is within what the Ordinance allows. 

On the revised Preliminary Plat, the resort owner would like to move the proposed pool, lodge, and tennis court from its central location in the resort to a more remote location.

CLA representatives as well as several Middle Cullen residents attended the meeting and expressed their concerns with various aspects of the proposal. 

After 1 1/2 hours of taking public input and discussing the applications, the planning commission voted unanimously to table the application to address several issues of concern.  




What is a zebra mussel?  Zebra mussels are small, fingernail-sized animals that attach to solid surfaces in water. Adults are 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches long and have D-shaped shells with alternating yellow and brownish colored stripes. Female zebra mussels can produce 100,000-500,000 eggs per year. These develop into microscopic, free-living larvae that begin to form shells, which, after two to three weeks, start to settle and attach to any firm surface. It is the only freshwater mussel that can attach to objects. They are native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia and were brought over to the Great Lakes in ballast water of freighters. Populations of zebra mussels were discovered in the Great Lakes about 1988.

How can they affect us? Zebra mussels can cause problems for lakeshore residents and anyone using the lake. Homeowners who take lake water to water lawns can have their intakes clogged. Mussels can attach to motors and possibly clog cooling water areas. If they grow large enough, shells on rocks, swim rafts and ladders can cause cuts and scrapes.  Anglers may lose tackle, as the shells can cut fishing line. Zebra mussels can also attach to native mussels, killing them. Zebra mussels filter plankton from the surrounding water. This filtering can increase water clarity, which might cause more aquatic vegetation to grow at deeper depths and and in denser stands. If a lake has high numbers of mussels over large areas, this filter feeding could impact the food chain, reducing food for larval fish.

Where are they now? They have spread throughout the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River from Brainerd downstream, and are now in other rivers and inland lakes.  One popular fishing lake that is infested with Zebra mussels is Lake Mille Lacs.  Unfortunately, many of the boats that are launched on both our public and private accesses come directly from Mille Lacs.

Waterbodies within Crow Wing County that are infested are:
Black Bear Lake
Boom Lake
Half-Moon Lake
Little Rabbit Lake
Miller Lake
Mississippi River from the Pine River downstream
Ossawinnamakee Lake
Pelican Brook, from the source at Ossawinnamakee Lake
        to the Pine River
Pickerel Lake
Pine River, from the mouth of Pelican Brook to the
        Mississippi River
Rice Lake

How could they spread to our lakes?  The potential for zebra mussels to spread is very high. Microscopic larvae may be carried in water contained in bait buckets, bilges or  any other water moved from an infested lake or river.  Mussels attach to boats, nets, docks, swim platforms, and boat lifts, and can be moved on any of these objects. They also can attach to aquatic plants, making it critical to remove all aquatic vegetation before leaving a lake.

How do we prevent the spread of Zebra Mussels?  When removing a boat or equipment from an infested lake:

Remove any visible vegetation from items that were in the water, including the boat, trailer, and all equipment.

Flush engine cooling system, live wells, and bilge with tap water. If possible, use hot water.

Do not re-use bait if exposed to infested waters.

Dry boat and other equipment for at least 48 hours before using in uninfested waters.

Examine boat exterior for mussels if it has been docked in infested waters; if mussels are found or exterior is heavily fouled by algae, either clean fouled surfaces or leave boat out of the water for at least 5 days before entering uninfested waters.

What can we do if we do get Zebra mussels in the Cullen Lakes ?

Nothing!  There is currently no way to eliminate them.


New Owners: 
Lower Cullen--Jim & Janet Brophy(L84)
Middle Cullen--Mike & Kathy Sullivan (M56), Shriners Hospital for Children (M68)
Upper Cullen--Shriners Hospital for Children (U1)

Deaths:  Margaret Larson (M68 & U1), Don Opsahl (U14), Mark Hirschey (L2)