Every five years, the LDF tribal water resource department conducts an aquatic plant survey on White Sand Lake. Celeste Hockings, the department manager and aquatic ecologist, and her crew survey 100’s of spots on the lake. The team throws a rake at designated points, pulls up the rake of plants and identifies the species. The good news is that all the aquatic plants in the lake are native.We have no aquatic invasive species such as eurasian water milfoil, nor curly leaf pond weed. Lakes not too far from White Sand Lake spend 10’s of thousands of dollars to control those aquatic invasive species each year.
The lack of invasive species can in part, be credited to the clean boat, clean water program (CBCW) which has been active on our lake since 2009. The last few years we have engaged UW Oshkosh students to monitor our boat landing and educate boaters regarding the transmission of invasive species between lakes. In 2021, the students and lake association volunteers logged 284 hours, inspected 288 boats and contacted 570 people. The CBCW program is our most expensive program. We have applied for the maximum amount of DNR grant monies. We can always use more volunteers to work the landing. If interested, a two hours training session is required. Please see the following link for training sessions. 2022 Vilas County Clean Boats Clean Waters Training Schedule Not only will your volunteer hours add to inspection time at the landing, but volunteer hours add to the amount of DNR grant money we can receive. So, volunteerism is a win, win.