Protect the Waters of Lake Vermillion

The VLA board is passing along this letter from Jeff Forester of Minnesota Lakes and Rivers about our governor’s proposal to cut county funding for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) prevention by 50%. We have written a letter from our Lake Association and passed this information to many other organizations around the lake who are also working to improve and protect Lake Vermilion:

I am writing to you today with an urgent request. Governor Walz recently released his proposed budget recommendations. In it he proposes cutting the County AIS Prevention Aid formula by 50%.

Please write Governor Walz a letter today and urge him to protect the County Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid.

If you are part of a Coalition of Lake Associations, COLA, or on a Chain of Lakes, please forward this email to other lake associations in your area and urge them to write a letter.

The most powerful way to contact the Governor’s office is to take out a pen and paper, or typewriter, write him a letter urging him to reconsider this budget recommendation, sign it, put it in an envelope and mail it to him.

Handwritten letters are the gold standard in political discourse. As a lake association leader, you have an authentic stake in this AIS funding. It pays for inspections, decontamination, education, outreach and support of local volunteers.

You can address your letter to:

Office of Governor Tim Walz

130 State Capitol

75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

St. Paul, MN 55155

Some things you might want to include:

-State in your letter that you are opposed to cutting the County AIS Prevention Aid Formula,

-Let him know how this funding supports your efforts to protect the public waters,

-Remind him that prevention is far more efficient and cost effective than treatment after the fact,

-Tell him what the lake means to you and why you are so engaged in protecting it.

Thank you for all you do. Please do take a moment to write a letter – if the Governor’s office receives a few hundred letters from civic organizations representing literally hundreds of thousands of concerned and engaged citizens, this will have an impact.

More soon and thank you,

Jeff Forester

E.D. Minnesota Lakes and Rivers