Second Time's A Charm for Lake Association

Big Fish Lake, located near Cold Spring, MN is one of the largest lakes in the state. It’s popular for boating, fishing and other recreation (like bird-watching as these photos from Big Fish show!).

Recently, their lake association joined our Healthy Lakes and Rivers Partnership (HLRP) program.

Big Fish Lake Association isn’t a stranger to the program though; it was also a participant back in 2002. But this time around, there is new and dedicated leadership involved and everyone is looking forward to figuring out how they can make Big Fish the best it can be.

Participating lake or river associations must attend two of our leadership training sessions as part of the program, which is exactly what Jim Sand of Big Fish Lake Association has done.

“After attending the training workshop I did increase my knowledge base, but I realized there is still so much more to learn,” said Sand. “Hearing from other lake associations at the training and making connections with others has given me a wealth of resources.”

Big Fish’s Lake Association hasn’t quite determined what their top priorities will be for the lake, but they hope to work with area farmers and governmental agencies to clean up the water that enters the lake from cropland which will have a positive effect on our overall water quality, said Sand.

HLRP works with associations in many different areas including developing strategic management plans, restoring shorelines, upgrading septic systems and enhancing habitats.













Sand’s recommendation to other groups thinking about participating in HLRP?

“Be prepared to get to work! Attending the workshop is the easy part, it will be the follow up work that you and your team do that will really take up your time and energy, but it is also that work that will give you great satisfaction.”

For more info about HLRP, visit our website or contact Don Hickman.