Lake advocate Ted Rulseh to speak in St. Germain

The Sayner-St. Germain Fish and Wildlife Club will host a presentation by lake advocate and author Ted Rulseh on Wednesday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at the St. Germain Community Center.

Rulseh’s slide presentation, Lake Steward: Healthy Shorelines, Healthy Lakes, will highlight best practices that lake residents can adopt on their properties to help keep nutrients and other pollutants from running off the land into the water.

A lake steward initiative that encourages Minnesota residents to install or maintain shoreline buffers of vegetation and other lake-protective measures will be discussed. These residents who meet several basic criteria are recognized with colorful lake steward signs to post on their properties.

More than 40 Minnesota lake associations have adopted the lake steward program, and the Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Association (OCLRA) wants to help replicate this initiative on North Woods lakes and eventually throughout Wisconsin.

“What we do on land directly and significantly affects what happens to the waters,” Rulseh said. “I’ll illustrate how good shoreline development and maintenance practices help preserve and enhance water quality and protect fish, wildlife, and lake ecosystems.”

Rulseh is president of OCLRA and the author of three books, including “A Lakeside Companion,” “Ripple Effects: How We’re Loving Our Lakes to Death,” and “You Shoulda Been Here Last Week: Stories from an Angling Life.” Rulseh also writes the column “The Lake Where You Live” and has a blog at thelakeguy.net.

The program is free and open to the public; all ages are welcome.

The presentation will last about an hour and will have an opportunity for questions.
The club hosts presentations on the third Wednesday of every month. Upcoming presentation topics include hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail with Anne Small in June, preserving lakes and rivers with Len Larsen in July, author John Bates in August, moosewatch research of Isle Royale with Cindy Wills in September, and bats in Wisconsin with Licia Johnson in October.

The St. Germain Community Center is located at 545 S. Highway 155. The presentation will be in room six.

For more information, contact Kelly McGill at 715-542-1614.