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July 17, 2023 Comments (0) Conservation / Wildlife, Events, Home Page

Prairie Lakes Conference set for August 9-11

By Steve Weisman

Registration is now underway for the 2023 Prairie Lakes Conference (PLC) set for August 9-11 at Okoboji, IA. The theme for this year is “The Future of Lake Management,” which will include the following session topics:

  • Oak Savannah Restoration
  • Shallow Lake Improvement Practices
  • Rural and Urban Best Management Practices
  • Fish Management

These four topic sessions will be the springboard for field tours of working innovative lake and management activities, the chance to meet with and to discuss with technical experts and water resource managers what’s working in the Iowa Great Lakes area and on other regional lake systems. At the same time, vendors will be on hand to showcase tools that can assist water resource managers.

According to John Wills, director of the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance and one of the PLC planners, “Join us as we work to educate people on the way to protect our most valuable resources in a world that often doesn’t seem to care.”

 

Tentative daily schedules:

  • Wed Aug 9th:

5 p.m. – Field Day at the Boettcher Family Farm- RSVP is needed with dinner provided. Free to all

 

  • Thursday Aug 10th:

8 a.m.              Meet at MiniWakan State Park for Registration

8:45                 Load bus and depart for tours

9 a.m.              Loon Lake Park – Discussion of Minnesota Practices

10:30 a.m.       Wallace and Bowers/Blackrock

12:00               Lunch at MiniWakan Shelter

1 p.m.              Anglers Bay/Sandbar Slough

2:30 p.m.         Hogsback/Shallow Lake Management/Upland/Marble/Hottes

4:30 p.m.         Return to MiniWakan State Park

5 p.m.              West O Reception

 

  • Friday Aug 11th:

8 a.m.             Meet at MiniWakan State Park

8:25 a.m.         Load bus and depart for field tours

8:30 a.m.         Field Tour – Hoien/Drinking Water Challenges/Orleans Hatchery

10:30 a.m.       Presentation by Mike Hawkins – “Changes in Water Quality”

  • m.          Keynot Speaker – Joe Uhlman

Afternoon Field Tour – Kayak at Lakeside Lab with discussion of

Aquatic vegetation and water quality.

Registration for the entire conference is $100. Go to www.plciowa.com to register. This includes breakfast and lunch on both Thursday and Friday, transportation on the field tour, a West O Receptiion on Thursday and packet information. Two activities are free for everyone: the Wednesday night field tour and the Friday afternoon field tour.

The PLC, which originated in 2016, is put together annually by conservation professionals and is an invitation for fellow professionals, students and interested members of the public to join together to learn about soil health, water quality and the connections between the two.

Wills concludes, “For years, we have tried to move the Prairie Lakes Conference to a more outdoor and interactive study session and this year that is exactly what we will have with a more field tour atmosphere.  The conference will combine learning with a hands on approach that should be really good and really entertaining for all.”

To learn more about this year’s PLC, google Prairie Lakes Conference, call (712)336-3782 or email info@plciowa.com.

Participants at the PLC will have the opportunity to kayak in Little Millers Bay-out from the Lakeside Lab.

Boettcher Family Farm with a good growth of cover crops in the fall.

 

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