Where St. Clair's cabins used to sit

The Black Oak Lake Watershed Protection Program is an ongoing endeavor of the Black Oak Lake Preservation Foundation (hereafter, the Foundation). The program is composed of phases that collectively contribute to the overall vision. In Phase 1, participants learned about the lake and the landscape and created the first version of the Black Oak Lake Adaptive Management Plan. In Phase 2, we continued to gather new and existing information about the lake and history and created an important component of the Adaptive Management Plan: an Aquatic Plant Management Plan. In Phase 3, we conducted a qualitative, quantitative, and photographic documentation of the condition of the littoral and riparian zones of Black Oak Lake. In Phase 4, we identified candidate areas within the riparian area of Black Oak Lake where vegetative restoration would benefit habitat and water quality. In Phase 5, we explored issues of lake stage (water level) and water clarity and chemistry. In Phase 6 (the current phase), we analyzed additional aquatic plant data, updated the Aquatic Plant Management Plan, studied the groundwater relation to Black Oak Lake, interpreted the biotic history of Black Oak Lake sediment, and re-worked the entire Adaptive Management Plan.

Black Oak Lake Preservation Foundation is sponsoring a large scale lake planning grant to study Black Oak Lake, in Vilas County. The project will focus on aquatic invasive species prevention (AIS) activities, studying aquatic plants, water quality, groundwater, and a sediment core in Black Oak Lake and then update the Black Oak Lake Adaptive Lake Management Plan (LMP). Phase 6 project activities include: 1) Conduct water quality sampling and analysis; 2) Install mini-piezometers to monitor groundwater movement; 3) Aquatic plant community analysis (Compare aquatic plant point-intercept (PI) surveys); 4) Sediment core analysis; 5) Conduct watercraft inspections; 6) Entry of inspection data into SWIMS; 7) Update LMP.

update