CLAA Natural Shoreline overview: Follow this link to view the July 2019 Natural Shores introduction presentation. 2023 rebranded Natural Shores as SOS: Save Our Shoreland
There is widespread acceptance for preserving and restoring natural shorelines in order to protect water quality, wildlife habitats and fisheries. The Water Quality and Vegetation Committee is proposing to preserve and increase our natural shoreline and near shore areas through supporting individual owner projects.
CLAA has been involved in shoreland preservation through projects such as:
Efforts to establish and maintain buoys marking both the no motor zone and mandatory slow no wake zone.
In 2018 we began a publicity campaign to urge boaters to adhere to a voluntary slow no wake zone in depths of 4 feet or less using a new map highlighting this depth, pocket cards and education at the boat ramp by our ramp volunteers.
We have been involved in invasive species monitoring and control including the annual Phragmites fest.
In recent years we have also had Ramp Volunteers and signage at the west side ramp to educate boaters about their role in preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) which , by creating a suffocating monoculture, can threaten our natural variety and protective layer of plants.
We further have been promoting shoreland topics through all member e-mails, newsletter, presentations at the annual meeting, the “Welcome to Clark Lake Brochure " and our website.
CLAA, through the Water Quality and Vegetation Committee, intends to continue and expand all of these efforts but now is going to encourage and support each land owner to undertake their own projects.
We model our efforts on the state “Healthy Lakes” program and the W isconsin Lakeshore Restoration Project . We hope to assist members in obtaining individual grants or other financial support and will endeavor to provide additional financial incentives. We do not meet the current definition of a qualified lake association so we partner with an outside organization to apply for the grant but CLAA will then facilitate our member applications.
We will arrange educational presentations, tours of successful preservation projects on the lake and using our group purchasing power to negotiate with local landscaping resources. Natural Shores demonstration west side ramp is our project to rehabilitate the property next to the west side boat ramp and use it as an educational resource.
2021 Buffer Buddies is a new program aimed at developing small plots under 100 sq. ft. of native plants plotted according to the Healthy Lakes density and variety guidelines with buddies supporting each other in addition to holding themselves responsible to timelines for "homework" completion and plot preparation so seedlings can be planted in the spring of 2022. This program is a work in progress; reference files can be found in the Buffer Buddies folder that is open to the public and any file can be downloaded for offline viewing..
Such a widespread effort will require the cooperation and involvement of many members. We will need volunteers to write educational brochures, provide website posts, research grant opportunities, manage correspondence, arrange speakers, create and disburse brochures, evaluate and administer tools for owners to assess their property in order to individualize their goals and plans, and to coordinate with the board for funding and oversight of all the projects.
Outline of SOS Program Individual owners program
General Goals each for owner
Minimum 35 foot vegetative buffer from ordinary high water mark or wetlands. whichever is greater.
Limit or replace riprap with biologic material and/or plant with absorptive plants,
Limit viewing corridor to30 feet per 100 feet of shoreline.
Plan acceptable access corridor both on land and in the water. (current county ordinance is a pedestrian access corridor of up to 60 inches wide.)
Populate the vegetative buffer zone with a mixture of trees, bushes and native plants
Leave woody debris in the water/ install Fishsticks
Eliminate use of fertilizer on lawns
Preserve/ renew near shore emergents, esp. bulrush
Ensure septic systems monitored and maintained
Limit insults to all water less than 5 foot depth from boating, hunting or other recreational use
Monitor for and eliminate invasive species
Reduce run off by limiting impervious surface, using rain gardens or other mitigating efforts
CLAA support
Provide educational resources
Website, all member periodic e-mails, newsletters, speakers at annual meeting and Fall dinner, special events for interested members, handouts, demonstration projects and tours, library of resources and links; and teams to mentor interested members..
Financial
List and assist state grants, county programs, private grants.
Explore financial incentives from CLAA.
Group purchase plants, planning resources, or other services
Planning
Create tool to assess individual landowners needs and then plan for short and long term goals, costs and financial support
Develop ongoing measurement tools to suggest which properties offer highest priority and success
CLAA Monitoring
Continue current measures in the Water Quality/ Vegetation plan
Add a registry to collate voluntary individual results of the natural shoreline assessment tool
Create measurement of percent of lake shore meeting certain goals such as presence of unprotected rip rap, width of vegetative buffer, signs of bank erosion, density of trees/ brush near shore, width of recreation area, etc.