DON’T MAKE A SPLASH Benzie Conservation District volunteers set out on a loon stewardship program. (All photos courtesy of BCD)
Locals and visitors alike can protect our waterways from trash, invasive species, and pollutants this summer By Jillian Manning When you think of northern Michigan waterways, you think of crystal blue lakes, sandy beaches, and rivers teeming with fish. You don’t think of Eurasian watermilfoil, stormwater pollution, or the New Zealand mud snail. But maybe you should. Whether you’re here for a week or you call Up North home, local water advocacy groups are calling for everyone to be part of the solution when it comes to keeping our water clean and pure. “We know what we need to do to keep these lakes special,” says Caroline Keson, monitoring programs coordinator for Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Petoskey. “We all have to come together and make sure that [they are] protected and that we’re doing the right thing.” The Humans Are Coming Soon, hundreds of thousands of people will be flocking to northern Michigan. That translates to parties at the Torch Lake sandbar, flotillas at West End Beach, and half a dozen strangers at your favorite fishing spot. The pandemic spurred more people to get outdoors, and that trend holds true on our waterways. The Benzie Conservation District has seen an uptick in usage, especially for fishing and kayaking, which Conservation Specialist John Ransom says can make the Betsie and the Lower Platte
rivers look like “an amusement park” due to the swell of people and watercraft. “We’re really having an overuse problem,” he says. That’s not to say we shouldn’t get out and enjoy the water. “We just have to make sure that we’re growing in a smart way that protects the reason why a lot of people want to live around here,” Ransom adds. Interestingly, none of the environmental experts we talked to have found a direct correlation between more humans on the water and poorer water quality. “Certainly more people means more potential for pollution or water quality impairment, but we don’t have any documented increased water quality issues with more boat or beach use,” says Heather Smith, baykeeper for the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. Although it’s a bit of a relief to hear our watershed doesn’t go haywire from the extra bodies, there are two notable problems humans bring with them when they hit the water. One Person’s Trash The first problem is garbage. At this spring’s Great Lakes Cleanup, the 200 volunteers who worked with the Watershed Center collected more than 1,000 pounds of trash from the shoreline of Grand Traverse Bay alone. Smith says some of the biggest offenders are lightweight, single-use products like straws and wrappers, which can easily blow off your beach towel or out
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Vegetation on a boat trailer post-launch.
of a trash can on a windy day. “I encourage everybody to bring a pail or a bucket or one of those plastic grocery bags that we all have sitting around at home,” she says. “Every time you go to the beach, pick up what you see. [Be] cognizant of your own footprint to try to do your part.” But trash isn’t limited to the remains of your lunch—it also includes your fishing gear. Ransom explains that during clean-ups on the Betsie River, it’s not uncommon to
find five-pound tangles of line and hooks in the riverbed. “You’re fishing and you hook into a log and you just think, ‘I don’t want to get that hook out. I’m just gonna break it off.’ Well, if a thousand people do that, then suddenly you have a log that’s full of hooks. Think about that impact as a whole instead of just as an individual,” Ransom says. In fact, Ransom suggests applying the “multiply it by a thousand” mentality to all
