Scholars study issues facing Whitefish Lake
The time of human influence on
Whitefish Lake has been relatively short, but still has changed its
landscape.
That was the message the Whitefish Lake
Institute Executive Director Mike Koopal tried to impress upon a
group of Road Scholars visiting Whitefish Lake last week.
“We’ve been here 125 years,” he said.
“That’s 1 percent of the lake’s history.”
Still, there has been great
environmental pressure on the watershed from development and
biological threats.
Koopal gave a group of about 20 a crash
course in the history and concerns of Whitefish Lake. The program
was part of a Road Scholar program — formally known as Elderhostel
— which held Whitefish and Glacier National Park-centered education
programs here this summer. The Whitefish Lake Institute has
partnered with Road Scholar to bring participants to the area for
educational series.
The participants came from all across
the United States. Many of them were familiar with the issues
facing Whitefish Lake because they had seen similar things in their
home states. They also wanted to know more.
“We want people to be excited about the
resource,” Koopal explained. “They can collect this information and
take it back with them to their communities. They might be
different ecosystems, but a lot of the issues are universal.”
Koopal gave a short talk on the threats
facing the lake and reasons why it’s important to thwart those
threats.
“The city draws part of its drinking
water from Whitefish Lake,” he said. “It’s very important to
residents to keep that water clean. Not only just for that, but
also for contact exposure from recreation.”
Historically Whitefish Lake has been
changed with the introduction of non-native fish and mysis shrimp.
Originally planted to improve feed for fish, the shrimp eventually
negatively impacted the fishery.
Future invasive species, such as the
threat of zebra mussels, could changed the lake again, he
noted.
“Ecosystem could be in even more chaos
if other (non-natives) are introduced,” he said.
Development and timber harvest have had
impacts on the lake as well, with runoff moving more easily into
the lake, particularly during flood years.
“As timber harvest has increased so has
sediment in Whitefish Lake resulting from flooding,” Koopal
said.
After getting a basic lesson on
Whitefish Lake, the Road Scholars moved to the edge of Whitefish
Lake for a fish dissection demonstration and lesson on water bugs.
The scholars learned that fish have very good eyesight that
includes seeing color and that a fish’s scales have rings that tell
its age. They also got to identify bugs taken from Viking Creek
near the lake.