Volunteers Needed for our Annual Purple Loosestrife Survey

Volunteers are needed to do purple loosestrife surveys on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage and Trude lake. The survey needs to be done during the last two weeks of July. The DNR and County Conservation Department relies on us to do the hunting for Loosestrife because finding it is resource intensive. The Loosestrife should be in bloom during the time the Survey is conducted making it much easier to identify.

The entire Flowage needs to be surveyed as new outbreaks of Loosestrife could occur anywhere along the shoreline. We have divided the surveying into 18 routes. Each route needs at least two people to do the surveying. One person is needed to navigate to avoid rocks, reefs and stumps and a least one other person, with binoculars and a map, to search for the Loosestrife.

Below is the link to the online Google map “TFF Purple Loosestrife”, maintained by the TFFTLPOA.  The map has all known purple loosestrife sites from 2014-2016, color coded by year. Survey areas are color coded by availability for survey. Red means the area has not been claimed yet, and green indicates the area has been claimed. Please view the map and choose an area, and email Diane if you would like to survey it, and we willchange the area to green, and add your initials to it.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=18tdGCDcYHeFEGF_TLN6iViYO128

WORKDAYS ON MONDAY JULY 24 TURTLE FLAMBEAU FLOWAGE

There will also be a workday held this year. A workday is an opportunity to work along with the DNR and the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department to treat and remove the loosestrife. Volunteers will be starting at Sturgeon Bay landing at 9:00am and spreading out to various locations to apply herbicide to plants. The TFFTLPOA will supply water, health beverages for hydration, and snacks for all volunteers. Any volunteers may want to bring their own water and a mid-morning snack since the work usually goes on until 1 PM. Thank you in advance for your efforts to keep the Flowage free of this invasive species.

Anyone interested in volunteering please contact:

Diane O’Krongly
4522 N. John Dul Road
Mercer, WI 54547

Tel: (715) 476-0287: dokrongly@centurytel.net