Norwegian Bay Bulrushes

(Green Lake Sanitary District, Spring Newsletter 1997)

The Sanitary District is continuing its effort to protect the bulrushes in Norwegian Bay. The bulrush protection project has drawn substantial interest from the surrounding communities. The GLSD Commission believes it is important to clarify the process required in order to develop an ordinance that will allow the bulrush area in Norwegian Bay to be protected from motorboats.

The GLSD sees the bulrush project as an ideal opportunity to protect the most treasured resource in this area, namely Big Green Lake. As stated in the Fall 1996 District Newsletter, the bulrushes provide numerous positive& benefits to the lake, such as: anchoring sediments, protecting shorelines from wave erosion, providing substrate for invertebrates, food for waterfowl, substrate for fish eggs, nesting cover, improved water quality, fishery and wildlife functions.

In order for an ordinance to be enacted, the following steps need to be followed. At least three of five municipalities surrounding Big Green Lake must provide the GLSD with the authority to develop the bulrush protection ordinance. The three supporting municipalities must include at least 60% of the lake’s shoreline. In addition to obtaining the required authorization, the GLSD must develop the specific bulrush ordinance. A Public Hearing must be held to discuss the proposed ordinance and the ordinance must be sent to the Wisconsin DNR for advisory review.

To date, the GLSD has been working with the Towns of Brooklyn, Green Lake, and Princeton to get authorization and support for moving ahead with the bulrush protection ordinance. A draft bulrush protection ordinance has been developed by the GLSD and provided to the three Towns the weak of 3/17/97.

The GLSD is continuing to work with the Towns and the public in an effort to fine-tune the bulrush protection ordinance. Some information that needs to be emphasized/clarified is provided below:

1. The Norwegian Bay bulrush protection project actually began in the summer of 1995 with letters to the GLSD from concerned citizens and the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

2. The bulrush protection area WILL NOT affect the Norwegian Bay Canal (which is the primary lake access point for area residents) or the Norwegian Bay Sandbar (which is a primary swimming spot for boaters).

3. Buoys without ropes will mark the actual bulrush bed to prohibit the operation of motorized boats within the protected area. Non-motorized boats (i.e. canoes, rowboats, etc.) will continue to have access to the bulrush protection area for fishing and other lake activities.
   

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Green Lake's Norwegian Bay Bulrushes 

(Green Lake Reporter, September 1998)

If you have enjoyed swimming or boating in the Norwegian Bay area of Green Lake (northwest end), chances are you have noticed the buoys that surround tall plants growing in the waters. The plants are hardstem bulrushes and the buoys are there for their protection. Last summer, the Brooklyn, Green Lake, and Princeton town boards and the Green Lake Sanitary District (GLSD) created an ordinance to protect the lake’s last remaining bulrush area. This approximate 1.5-acre area is now off limits to boats, personal watercraft, and swimmers.

Don Bogdanske, Ripon High School teacher, along with several of his students, and Kurt Piernot, of the GLA, surveyed the bulrush stand. Their study was part of Project FIRST (Field Investigation and Research for Science Teachers) program and funded by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. Bogdanske and his crew set out to determine the number, condition, and area occupied by the present bulrush population; compare it to prior populations; and make recommendations that would reduce further loss and lead to future growth.

Bogdanske’s study led to four recommendations:

• extend the buoys and consider roping off to prevent intrusion

• place signs in the area to educate lake users about the endangered species

• plant bulrush stock to encourage regrowth

• continue research to evaluate these and other recommendations.

Bogdanske believes that if more people realized the value of bulrushes they would work for their preservation. "Bulrushes provided habitat for waterfowl, aquatic mammals, fish, reptiles, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates," he said. "Bulrushes also play a big role in providing lake stability." Bulrushes have dense fibrous root systems which prevent shoreline and bottom erosion as well as absorb silt and other runoff materials. "In simple terms," Bogdanske concluded, "bulrushes are simply too important an asset of the lake’s ecosystem to stand by and watch them become extinct in Big Green Lake."