Clark Lake Spirit Foundation Supports Investigation of Invasive Weed

The Clark Lake Spirit Foundation has voted to support further investigation of an invasive weed that threatens to affect Clark Lake adversely and bring about radical change.  The Eurasian Milfoil has found its way into Clark Lake and formed a hybrid with a native weed.  This invader and hybrid are known to multiply rapidly.  The Eurasian Milfoil has overtaken some lakes in a year or two, making navigation and other lake activities difficult or impossible.   Just a small leaf can form 250-million new plants in one year.  At one lake where open water once existed, a resident reported that the weeds were so thick that ducks were seen walking on top of it.

DNA testing at Clark Lake has confirmed presence of the Eurasian Milfoil in at three locations–the County Park, Hancock Point, and the sandbar at the west end (in a line between Mud Point and the pineapple on the north shore).  It’s thought that the plant has spread to several other locations as well.

The support offered by the Clark Lake Spirit Foundation will help ascertain the current degree of Eurasian Milfoil infestation in the lake along with recommendations for its effective, safe and ecologically friendly control.  Most other lakes in our region have already faced this threat.  Clark Lake has the advantage of early detection and the ability to learn from the experience of other lakes.

In voting to support this work, the Foundation is true to the mission statement “Standing Up for Clark Lake.”  In the past the Foundation paid for rebuilding the weakened infrastructure of the dam at Ocean Beach, financed in part and provided expertise to move the Community Center to the County Park, and improved the cemetery at the head-of-the-lake.  The Foundation also supports this website and its DamCam which provides viewers anywhere in the world live 24/7 video of the dam at Ocean Beach.