Two townships are on board with a plan designed to preserve the Glen lakes from further invasions of species that can wreak havoc on the health of what many regard as one of the most beautiful places in Michigan.

The state Department of Natural Resources may join, but wants some time to study local ordinances that force boat owners to rid their crafts of foreign species before entering the lake system.

Even the main author of the ordinances, Empire and Glen Arbor townships’ attorney Richard Figura who specializes in municipal law, agrees that enforcing the measures approved recently by Empire and Glen Arbor townships will be difficult without cooperation. Generally, users of the lake will be asked to police themselves.

"There is no other way to tackle the problem," said Figura.

But Jason Fleming, department analyst for the Parks and Recreation Division of the Department of Natural Resources, said the state must concern itself with setting a precedent that could affect lake users throughout Michigan.

"I think what the Glen Lake Lake Association (GLLA) has been doing has been great," said Fleming. "But there are some complexities involved."

The DNR has yet to provide the GLLA with permission to place a sign explaining the ordinance at its boat launch on Little Glen Lake — the most popular boat launch for the lake system.

Concerns held by the DNR, said Fleming, include setting a precedent that could be used by lakefront owners elsewhere to discourage use of public boat launches to reduce lake traffic.

He makes it clear, however, that GLLA members have been sincere in their program to preserve and protect their cherished resource.

Since 1999 — and through a permit issued by the DNR — GLLA has funded a voluntary boat washing program at the access site off Day Forest Road that is largely credited with delaying the entry of zebra mussels into the lake system until three years ago.

Another DNR concern: enforcement. Fleming does not want workers at the boat wash to be placed in a position of trying to force boat owners to comply with the washing requirement. And the state may question how far a local ordinance can go in regulating access to a public body of water.

"That's a great group, the things they have done, they've done a great job with," said Fleming of the GLLA. "The problem is everybody needs to get to the table."

Sarah Litch, GLLA president, welcomes an opportunity to answer DNR concerns. But the GLLA pushed to get the ordinances in place, and the lake association plans to help with their enforcement.

The vast majority of boat users take up the offer to have their boats cleaned before launching on the state site, said Litch.

Other owners respond that they have already rinsed off their boats to assure no future aquatic nuisances are transported to the Glen lakes. Boats that have not been in water for 10 or more days are exempt from the ordinance.

But some boat owners are too hurried to comply, don't want anyone else touching their boat, or "just don't care. They feel invasives are all over, so it won't make a difference," said Litch.

Workers at the boat wash are instructed to take down license plate numbers of people they believe have violated the ordinances.

Representatives from a boat rental company out of Traverse City that trailers Jet Skis to Little Glen won't discuss the issue of boat washing, and refuse to have their watercrafts sprayed, Litch said. "That's pretty specific evidence they aren't washing their boats when they come to Glen Lake," said Litch.

GLLA has stepped up its efforts at the state boat launch, extending washing hours to 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and extending the season to May through September. Costs, which are incurred by GLLA, also increased, and are budgeted to reach $17,000 in 2007.

The money will be well spent, Litch said, if it can prevent some of the many exotics that are disrupting inland lakes throughout the country from establishing in Glen Lake. Only three years from their discovery, zebra mussels are already increasing the clarity in Little Glen, perhaps by as much as 1 1/2-feet in the 14-foot deep lake, lake association tests are indicating.

That may be good for bottom viewers, but it also represents a huge loss in nutrients available at the base of the lake's food chain, said Litch.

Signs explaining the ordinance are being placed at road-ends around the Glen Lake system while permission is awaited to place one at the DNR site.

"We're giving the DNR time to make their decision on it. I think because of the attention and the press, it will put some pressure on them to make a positive decision," said Litch.

Meanwhile, said Figura, identical ordinances are in place in the townships that hold most of the frontage on Big Glen and Little Glen lakes. Although violating the ordinances will not result in criminal charges, tickets can be issued as civil infractions through the Sheriff's Department, he said. Penalties of up to $500 are possible.

Figura disputes any claim the state may make that the ordinances exceed the townships' authority.

Glen Arbor Township supervisor John Soderholm was disappointed with the DNR's reaction.
"Frankly, it's disconcerting to say the least that they aren't embracing the same water quality standards as we have," said Soderholm.