| September 10, 2007 |
On Friday, September 7, 2007, a group of volunteers took a step towards protecting the water quality of Van Etten Lake while saving a resident's beach.
Mrs. Forrest, who has been spending summers at the lakeshore property for 40 years, had severe erosion to her beach caused by waves reflecting off her neighbors' seawalls. Knowing that she had lost multiple feet of beachfront and more was likely to erode away in the future, Mrs. Forrest called the Pine River/Van Etten Lake Coalition for help. Carole Plunkey, president of the Coalition, directed her to staff at Huron Pines, who helped organize an erosion control and native greenbelt project on her shoreline.
On the day of the installation, volunteers from the Coalition helped place 12 cubic yards of rock riprap, 80 feet of coconut fiber log, and over 100 native flowers, shrubs, and grasses. The rock riprap will help to stabilize a more gently sloped area and dissipate some of the wave energy hitting the beach, while the logs will hold up an area with a steeper slope, allowing plant roots to grow in and strengthen the shoreline. Native plants have deep roots that will help hold soil in place while filtering pollution and acting as a buffer to absorb rainwater runoff that comes from the homes and roads around the lake. Of the project, Mrs. Forrest said, "It's more beautiful than I expected--I can't thank you enough!"
This project is a first for the PRVEL Coalition, but not the last. While funding is low to help with implementation, the group is active in trying to preserve and protect their watershed by gathering information to update a watershed plan and by working to educate the public about good stewardship of the area's lakes and streams. The Coalition also provides volunteer time and labor for restoration projects like this one in the watershed. Huron Pines is completing various inventories and updates for the watershed plan while providing guidance for the Coalition's projects.
To learn more about protecting the Pine River/Van Etten Lake watershed or to get involved, see the watershed's page on www.huronpines.org.
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| Jennifer Muladore, Ecologist
jennifer@huronpines.org |
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