The Muskellunge Lake P & R District is concerned with changes that have occurred in the aquatic resources in recent years and are looking for current management strategies and methods to understand and cope with these changes. They recognize the problems that are associated wih the abundance of aquatic plants and the potential effects on an overabundance of bluegill. Much of the deep water areas are void of oxygen during the growing season and in late winter. Partial winter kill occurred in the past. These biological and physical limitations greatly effect the establishment and maintenance of a fisheries as well as contribute to other water quality problems. Major changes in the watershed have occurred with the development and improvements in state highways 51 & 8 the last ten years and further develop along these transportation corridors will further impact watershed water quality. The Muskellunge Lake P & R District would like to address these issues by gathering current resource data, comparing it to the 78 & 79 inventories, and updating the management alternatives to deal with them.

The Muskellunge Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District proposes to study and update management alternatives for Muskellunge Lake. Project activities include 1) perform a water quality assessment, resulting in reports, map, and graphs analyzing data, 2) analyze the aquatic plant community, resulting in a report, lake map, and aquatic plant management strategy, 3) conduct a public survey to assess water and land uses, resulting in a report of the results, and 4) conduct a watershed inventory resulting in a watershed boundary maps and a report describing the results. The Department of Natural Resources will be provided with a paper copy and an electronic copy of the final report. Information about the project will be disseminated to the public by newsletter mailing, report mailings, and public meeting. end.

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