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On October 28th, at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in Brainerd, Cass County Environmental Services, the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation, and Wabedo, Little Boy, Cooper, Rice Lakes Association were presented with a 2010 Lake Friendly award by the Brainerd Lakes Area Environmental Coalition.

The awards are given annually to organizations and citizens who are engaged in projects that are ecologically friendly to the protection and sustainability of quality lakeshores in the region. The Coalition is comprised of government and non-government organizations, including 1000 Friends of Minnesota; the Brainerd Lakes Area Audubon Society; Minnesota Waters; the Crow Wing County Lakes and River's Alliance; the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program, Section of Fisheries and Division of Waters; the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society; The Nature Conservancy; A.W. Research Laboratories; Crow Wing County SWCD; and the University of Minnesota Extension Service.[[In-content Ad]]

Cass County Environmental Services and the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation (LLAWF) were awarded the Lake-Friendly Protection Strategy award for their collaborative work with lakeshore property owners to place conservation easements on sensitive shorelands for the protection of fish and wildlife habitat and water quality. Through several grant programs, including a current grant of $300,000 from the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), landowners of sensitive shorelands who are willing to donate a conservation easement on their property are provided with financial incentives to cover the associated costs of the easement. "A conservation easement is a permanent restriction of future development on a property that is largely undeveloped," said Paula West, executive director of LLAWF. "The easement is held by either a qualifying government agency or nonprofit. Landowners still own and use the property, and it can be sold with the easement, but by restricting development the shoreland habitat is protected."

The Wabedo, Little Boy, Cooper, Rice Lakes Association (WLBCR) received the 2010 Lake Stewardship Award for their Sustainability Committee's lake preservation efforts. The Committee contacted property owners of parcels identified as having "high conservation potential" about the County's conservation easement program and offered assistance with land conservation options. Three adjacent landowners on Wabedo Lake responded to the Committee's offer after also seeing similar information in the LLAWF newsletter. Working with the Committee and Cass County Environmental Services, the landowners put conservation easements on four parcels protecting 3,500 feet of sensitive shoreline on Wabedo Lake and 70 acres of land. The easements are held by Cass County.

Ron Stokesbary, president of WLBCR Lake Association said, "We are very proud of these property owners. Their protected shoreline will benefit prime Muskie spawning offshore and other wildlife while these families will continue to enjoy their property knowing it will always remain in a natural state. Because of their examples, we now have other landowners going through the easement process."

Financial incentives are currently available for shoreland property owners interested in a conservation easement. Additional funds are anticipated beginning in July 2011 from a recommended $1 million grant to the Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, a portion of the new state sales tax dedicated to environmental protection. For more information, contact LLAWF at 218-675-5773 , Cass Environmental Services at 218-547-7241, or email [email protected].

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