Thank you for visiting the website of the
​Black Lake Preservation Society

No one that has been to Black Lake would deny that we have a special, natural treasure here.  As visitors, sportsmen and sportswomen, and property and business owners in the area, we have certain stewardship responsibilities to manage the effects of erosion, stormwater pollution, invasive species, and other risks to our shared interest in the lake.   We share this interest by virtue of our history and investment in Black Lake.  

​Thanks for visiting our page and for sharing our mission!

Let's Keep Black Lake Natural!

BLPS Calendar

(You can add specific events from the BLPS Calendar as a "friend calendar" on your gmail calendar by adding blacklakepreservationsociety@gmail.com)


2019 PLAN AT A GLANCE:

MARCH

• Spring thaw period begins on or around March 15
• Living Shoreline contractor training
• Trip Study report issued

APRIL

• Lake level raise for summer begins April 15

MAY

JUNE

• membership renewals due
• Swimmer’s Itch study kickoff
• Invasive Species Control Project 
• training for volunteers

JULY

• Invasive Species Control Project property owner picnic and permission workshop on July 17

• annual meeting
• Clean, Drain, Dry boat wash event at the Onaway State Park

AUGUST

• Shoreline landscaping workship with Jennifer from TOTMWC

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER


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Color Code:
   Lake Level Management Program
   Shoreland Stewardship
   Invasive Species
   Water Quality Monitoring
   BLPS Program

​Who We Are
The BLPS is a group for those that want to contribute to our community learning and ongoing change regarding the Protection and Preservation of Black Lake.  

Our Guiding Principles are:

1. that the right time to preserve and protect a lake is when it is healthy because there are few practical ways to restore  a lake once it is impaired,
2. that you cannot "outsource" your responsibility to protect the lake simply by writing a check to a group that takes responsibility for the lake's health.  People need to care enough to listen, learn, and engage if our goals are to be met, and
3. that to maximize our impact, we cannot repeat, recreate, or replace what other groups have done.  There are over 1,000 lakes of 100 acres or more in Michigan and similar numbers in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  There are solutions out there that can be leveraged toward our needs and it is critical that we find them and reuse them.  All of our effort must be additive.

​Pursuant to these guiding principles, our organization is really about starting the conversation and initiating actions around topics that impact our ability to preserve our lake;  the same topics being addressed by organizations around our area, our state, and through the midwest:

• that invasive species most likely enter our lake on visiting boats,
• that we need to hold dear the forest, dirt roads, wetlands, and meadows/flood plains that make up the free, beautiful water purification system in our watershed,
• that we are exposed due to lack of land use restrictions within our local government rules,
• that a healthy shoreline and a healthy septic system is our stewardship responsibility, and
• that harvesting weeds and stocking fish are addressing undesirable symptoms in the ecosystem while ignoring or masking  the root causes.

Why We Created the BLPS
All members of the BLPS should be assured that it is not the intent of the  BLPS to denigrate, compete with, replicate, or displace the Black Lake Association (BLA).  Several of the Directors of the BLPS are in fact BLA members, and all of us used to be members.  As most of the lakes in our area discovered even before we did, our lake really does need a group that is focused solely on conservation with no competing interests... and that groups like ours can coexist with groups promoting hunting, fishing, tourism, and other interests that frequently align with our conservation interest but sometimes do not. For many years, the attention, member recruitment, and spending of the BLA shifted away from conservation. Many of us tried to change that from within the BLA, but those efforts predictably failed due to the balancing of multiple  interests within that group.  We are happy to offer an alternative to those around the lake that want to sustain a growing appreciation for the natural character of Black Lake and an increasing understanding of how to preserve it for future generations. We are actually very pleased that our group formation has had the effect of shifting BLA focus back toward conservation - what we couldn't do from within that group - and we applaud the BLA for that.

This website and our Facebook page are for sharing our conservation oriented goals, plans, experiences, learnings, and ideas and we invite you and your like-minded or curious neighbors to join the conversation and be part of something positive.  Please bookmark our website and follow our Facebook this page. Also, consider supporting us by joining/renewing your membership here  at the Membership page or volunteer your time here at the Contacts page. Our impact is only limited by our collective people, time, and money.

​2018 Achievements
2018 was another growth year for the BLPS.  We expanded our efforts in our first two programs and launched two more.  As part of our Lake Management Program, we developed an in-depth analysis of how methods that we advocated for winter 2018 provided more room for the expected lake level rise during the spring melt.  We stand alone in promoting permanent adoption of these methods and showed how they improved property protection and improved business results.  As part of our Invasive Species Prevention Program, we repeated our public education at the State Park with the Clean Drain Dry inspection and Boat Wash events.  We implemented educational signage at six road end boat launch locations, and we assisted several property owners with identification and eradication of purple loosestrife and phragmites.  We also launched the Water Quality Monitoring Program with the Tributary Study Project run by the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.  The report from that project is expected to be released in March of 2019.  Finally, the Shoreland Stewardship Program was kicked off with the introduction of the Self Assessment Survey that can be found  in the OUR LAKE section under Property Owner Role in Preservation .

2019 Plans
In 2019, we're going to continue the work that we started in 2018 with some important additions.  We will begin a Swimmer's Itch project to learn about the species of bird and snail that are the source of the parasite that causes swimmers itch.  With information gathered from this study, we'll be able to do some eradication work in 2020.  Secondly, we have a very important project that we are shaping with the Huron Pines Conservancy.  The project is an outreach and education regarding the risk that phragmites and purple loosestrife pose to our marshes, wetlands, and shoreline.  We have not been successful gaining private property owner approval for eradication work over the past couple of years and we need to turn this around.  The damage that these plants have caused around our nation and now in our state is astounding.  Prevention is the only answer as there are no ways to safely eradicate these plant once they get to a certain point.  We also hope to get more take-up of the self-guided property assessment tool this year.  Property owners can use this tool to identify ways that they can contribute to the health and longevity of our lake.  This tool was developed by the Michigan Shoreland Stewards, and it is leveraged broadly across our state. 

Visit "PROJECTS"  from the menu to learn more about our plans.

What Is Membership Like
There is ample opportunity for you to provide input and feedback regarding our plans and to volunteer your time and lend your financial support to the educational, collaborative, and project related activities that are part of our program.  We are committed to maintaining low dues so everyone can participate.  The dues cover the non-discretional spending (e.g. web hosting, insurance, postage, etc.), and our planned projects will require additional funding that will come from restricted donations and grants.  See the PROJECTS section and the MEMBERSHIP section for more information on how to help fund our projects and to review plans for execution of our strategic plan.
 
To get the most from your membership with the BLPS, it is essential that you a) join our Facebook Page with notifications turned on, b) revisit this website from time to time, and c) make sure that we have your current contact information for mail and email.  Only then can you be part of the full conversation and be aware of opportunities to join with your neighbors to achieve the BLPS mission.
 
Please go to the Membership page for information on how to join the BLPS or renew your membership for 2019.  ​

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