2018 Year-End Report - Invasive Species Control for Lac Courte Oreilles

Prepared by Steve Umland, COLA AIS Coordinator

Please review linked maps of the most common aquatic species found in Big LCO and Little LCO along with the most problematic invasive species, Eurasian Water Milfoil (UWM) and Curly Leaf Pondweed (CLP).

From Steve:

“I'd like to point out, that both lakes are incredibly diverse and in a mostly healthy state. Big LCO had 37 native species while Little LCO had 36 native species identified during the survey. For both lakes the community health indicators are in the upper echelon for lakes throughout Wisconsin & lakes within the same Ecoregion (nearby lakes that are under the same environmental, use, and disturbance patterns).

We treated EWM in Little LCO this spring and found a slight increase from 2017. Good news is we found no CLP in Little LCO where we treated in 2017.

We treated CLP and EWM in Big LCO this spring. A larger patch was located in Barbertown than anticipated. We aggressively treated and resulting CLP in post PI survey was good news. Musky Bay was not a surprise and post-treatment surveys showed only visual CLP in one spot that was not treated in the spring. EWM in Big LCO is a concern in 2018. A large one acre clump was discovered in the west basin. We applied for and got a treatment permit. Post survey by myself was not definitive but encouraging. Spring 2019 will tell us a lot. The PI survey of Big LCO showing multiple EWM around Big LCO will have to be addressed in spring 2019. Please look at EWM map for these locations. Biggest concern for me is the small patch where White Fish drains into Big LCO.”