September 14, 2008

Letter of
Endorsement

To:  The
Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR),

The
Rush Lake Improvement Association, Inc., Chisago
County, MN, has
collected endorsements by other MN Lake Associations in support of the LCCMR
proposal to perform the foundation research associated with using iron
compounds to reduce the density of the invasive Curlyleaf pondweed (CLPW).

The
proposed use of iron compounds has been motivated by recent small-scale
experiments using iron filings [over the past 9 years in 6 selected lakes in
the Twin Cities area]
which have been linked with reduced CLPW growth.  A potential bonus with use of iron
compounds is that, under appropriate conditions, lake phosphorus in the
sediment may also be deactivated (by precipitation).

However,
state financial support is needed for the explicit purposes of performing
foundation studies on both the beneficial chemistries of iron dosed sediments
and for identifying any negative impacts (on fish, macroinvertebrates and
native aquatic plants) associated with the addition of iron (a naturally
occurring substance in MN lakes). Our
lake association, identified below, endorses the research proposal.

The Rice
Lake Area Association (RLAA), in Hennepin County, strongly supports the LCCMR
proposal requesting state funding to evaluate the use of iron to reduce the invasive Curlyleaf
pondweed.

Lake Association contact
person:   George
Schneider (Secretary/RLAA)

________________________

Mailing address: 14000 92nd
Place North, Maple Grove, MN
55369

Phone number:   (763) 420-8027

Email address:   [email-masked]