Protect & Preserve Mission: 2025 Update
Over the decades, our Square Lake Association has worked proactively, passionately, creatively, and collaboratively to Protect & Preserve Square Lake and surrounding watersheds.
Thanks to your SLA volunteerism and financial support, many conservation-minded lake associations across the state, including leading members of Minnesota Lakes & Rivers Advocates (MLR), have expressed interest in benchmarking and modeling SLA’s natural resource preservation best-practices and success stories, including:
SLA Advocacy: Trout Stocking Moratorium - 2017
SLA Strategic Planning: Square Lake Park Master Plan - 2021
SLA Community Mobilization: SLA Protect & Preserve Mission - 2023 Update
SLA Conservation Education: Square Lake Association Website
SLA Conservation-Driven Fundraising: Square Lake Conservation Fund
The imminent threat to Square Lake that we currently face is Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) intrusion - and the resulting negative impact of AIS on our quality of lake life, property values, and most importantly our legacy of ensuring that future generations will be able to enjoy the Square Lake we know, love, and are applying best efforts to Protect & Preserve.
In the gracious words of a wonderfully supportive friend, neighbor, and SLA volunteer:
“I wanted to reiterate how powerful and impactful my experience has been working with the Square Lake Conservancy and the May Township community at large. This may sound dramatic but our collective work over the past couple of years has truly changed my life and strengthened my commitment to environmental education and conservation advocacy. The young people we share this world with are empowered by real life successes like our Wilder Forest/River Grove eco-corridor conservation campaign. My eldest daughter (and River Grove alumna), for example, is determined to study Environmental Law as a result of witnessing our actions.”
Another new SLA friend, and nearby Lake Association leader, recently wrote:
“It is my absolute privilege to have virtually made your acquaintance. I have no doubt that your extensive, and extremely impressive, experience in stewarding Square Lake, Wilder Forest, and other benefitting endeavors, can have a most welcome influence on the health of our Horseshoe Lake.
“Since I received your thoughtful email, I have been reading and digesting the content at the links you provided. It all was most interesting to me: the inspiring, instructional case study, your achievement in preserving Wilder Forest, and actions taken to mitigate invasive species in Square Lake. Most especially, your water quality improvement activities and ideas (e.g., Lake Steward Program, and Square Lake Steward Program experience) are of particular relevance to the task before us at Horseshoe Lake. Here, I would say we have a subset of Square Lake’s conservation challenges, with a more extreme version of one particular challenge: aquatic plant / lake weed nutrient load.”
We owe our conservation stewardship success to each of you, the Officers and Directors you’ve elected, and our advisory team of esteemed conservation advocates, educators and thought leaders, including:
Jeff Forester, Executive Director, Minnesota Lakes & Rivers Advocates.
April Londo, Invasive Species Specialist/ Senior Aquatic Biologist, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Angie Hong, Water Education Senior Specialist, Washington Conservation District.
Mike Isensee, Administrator, Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District (CMSCWD).
Tom Langer, Riparian Permit Specialist, CMSCWD.
Jimmy Marty, Environmental Scientist, EOR Water-Ecology-Community.
Dan McSwain, Natural Resources Coordinator, Washington County Parks
Matthew Oldenburg-Downing, Middle St. Croix Watershed Management Organization Administrator & Senior Water Resource Specialist, Washinton Conservation District.
Tony Vavoulis, President, Mike Blehert and Jeff Dahlberg, Directors and AIS Treatment Leads, Big Marine Lake Association.
To further empower ongoing SLA Protect & Preserve success, we urgently need your help today - be it through volunteer time and/or financial support - to ensure the various forms of AIS that are destroying the quality of life in surrounding infested lakes, do not creep into Square Lake. By working together, we’ve succeeded in protecting Square Lake from AIS intrusion - with only one exception to date posted here: Curly-Leaf Pondweed Blog Post - 2023 - which we’re currently working to remediate, as further described below.
So please invest your time today in reading and reflecting upon the following linked Lake Vegetation Management Plan reports, updates, and debriefs - which describe our response from 2022 to present day, to the most important threat to Square Lake we’ve ever faced – as led by SLA’s engaged team of esteemed water scientists, conservation advisors, and ecology experts:
DNR: DNR Square Lake and Washington County Point Intercept Report -10-03-24
CMSCWD: CMSCWD Square Lake AVMP & Priority Actions – 1-24-25
And if you require additional incentive to get involved, the direct correlation between your Property Values & Water Stewardship, is highlighted in these articles:
Lake Clarity vs Property Values - Bemidji University Study (2003)
Unchecked development, lax regulation push Minnesota lakeshores to the edge - MPR News Report (2024)
Will Property Values Cool as AIS Heat Up? - MAISRC Study (2022)
Going forward, please be reminded that your lake’s future depends on you - and the Protect & Preserve actions we advance together.
To that end, please contact Jane Krentz, Lynn Mecum, or me - to learn how you can help ensure your Square Lake legacy.
Respectfully, with gratitude, urgency, hope, and commitment.
Jim Seidl
President, Square Lake Association
Co-Founder, Square Lake Conservancy
Jim.Seidl@legalresearch.com