There is an opportunity to support an initiative to identify $5 million for the Clean Lakes Program. We need letters of support for this initiative from individuals and State chapters. A sample letter is provided below. Just provide your own individual group/State/individual data in place of the Wisconsin and mail to all State Congressional representatives. Please provide a copy of your letter to Lisa Conley of the NALMS Government Affairs Committee and to me, as well.

RE: EPA Budget - Clean Lakes Program funding

On behalf of the Wisconsin Association of Lakes, I respectfully request your help to support funding for the Clean Lakes Program, Section 314 of the Clean Water Act.

Representative Bob Franks (NJ) plans to introduce a budget amendment to put $5 Million into the Clean Lakes Program - Section 314 of the Clean Water Act. Please contact his aide, Doug Tansey and offer your support for this funding.

The Federal Clean Lakes Program (Section 314 of the Clean Water Act) has not been funded in recent years. As a result, our lake program in Wisconsin lost our Lake Monitoring Program Data Coordinator position. One result is that for the last couple of years we have had to close the door in the face of new volunteer lake monitors. This will have long term ramifications not only to a good data base for WI lakes, it will also prevent us from continuing to develop the grass roots network among those interested in learning more and contributing on an individual level to the understanding and management of lakes.

Clean Lake Program funds in the past have helped a number of Wisconsin lake communities. Federal support was important to conduct large lake system studies and remediation, such as the Delavan Lake Project, and research into the control of exotics, such as the milfoil weevil study. In the past, Wisconsin has received Federal Clean Lakes Program funds in the past for studies and projects on Bass lake, Fish Lake, Pickerel/Crane Lakes, Lake Wissota, Lake Comus, Delavan, Lake Henry, Milwaukee Urban lakes, Lake Noquebay, the Willow Reservoir, Wind Lake, and 8 lakes. In Addition, the Menominee Tribe and the Lac du Flambeau Tribes received grants. Since separate funding for Section 314 was merged into the 319 Nonpoint program, our Wisconsin Lake Management program has not received any federal support.

As a state chapter of the North American Lake management society, WAL is working to restore funding for the Clean Lakes Program. We currently represent over 280 lake organizations statewide, which in turn represent over 75,000 property owners and sportsmen. We want to call your attention to the fact that the merger of the Clean Lakes Program (314) and the Nonpoint Program (319) has resulted in the elimination of federal support for our Wisconsin state lake program and also in most other states.

Please support the efforts of Representative Franks to pump new life into this vital federal program. For your information, I have attached a copy of testimony submitted to the Senate from the North American Lake Management Society on this issue.

Sincerely,

Lisa Conley
Wisconsin Association of Lakes
516 Lac La Belle Drive, Oconomowoc, WI 53066
414 567-5947  lconley@mixcom.com

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