Whitefish Area Property Owners Association

08/25/2026

The latest newsletter from the Crow Wing County Lakes and Rivers Alliance (LARA) includes updates from lake associations across the county, including a look at WAPOA’s ongoing work to manage starry stonewort in the Rush Lake Channel.

WAPOA President Tony Coffey shares an update on this year’s containment, harvesting, treatment and monitoring efforts, as well as encouraging early results from sediment sampling and aquatic plant surveys.

The newsletter also includes updates on wake-safe boating efforts, starry stonewort management on Middle Cullen Lake and other work underway to protect Crow Wing County’s lakes and rivers.

Read the August newsletter: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:d4ef230c-620b-465f-9de5-8f02fed7dcb0

08/25/2026

Kimble Lake Shoreline Restoration Project News from WAPOA Board Member Kristie Roedl: Because of your WAPOA dues I was able to pay for Crow Wing Soil and Water to come out and visit the site in 2025. There was found to be some undercutting, ice ridges and heavy erosion on one side. Great Roots was able to prepare a proposal to help restore the shoreline. The community build allowed the volunteers to cover the existing ice ridge with erosion control blankets to hold the soil in place. Willow wattle was installed to help with the undercutting and over 2,000 native plants and 30 live stakes were installed to help protect the shoreline from further erosion.
Crow Wing Soil and Water financially supported this project due to the benefit to the lake.

08/17/2026

Join us for WAPOA’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, August 22!

See where your membership dues go, hear what’s ahead for WAPOA and connect with organizations working to protect and strengthen our lakes and communities.

Doors open at 8:00am for a complimentary continental breakfast and community open house. Stop by and visit with organizations and programs including the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) and MNCOLA, Northern Waters Land Trust, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Whitefish Chain Yacht Club, Initiative Foundation, WAPOA’s Shoreline Restoration and Water Quality programs, and more.

The Annual Business Meeting begins at 9:00am, followed by presentations from the Pine River Watershed Alliance and Northern Waters Land Trust on their recent merger and shared vision for protecting our area’s land and water resources, and Minnesota DNR’s John Kempe with an update on fishing and recent developments on the Whitefish Chain.

Saturday, August 22
Immaculate Heart Church Social Hall
Doors open at 8:00am | Meeting begins at 9:00am

Everyone is welcome –– you do not need to be a WAPOA member to attend. Bring your family, friends and neighbors and join us for a fun and informative morning!

Learn more: wapoa.org/events/wapoa-annual-mtg

08/17/2026

WAPOA’s Annual Meeting on the 22nd… read all about it!

08/15/2026

Register for AIS Showcase:

Photo by Rebec

08/14/2026

Project re-do on lower whitefish due to ice push. By Kristie Roedl, WAPOA Shoreline Restoration Manager
We are finding that the ice is moving more with the hot and cold temperatures we are experiencing in the winter. When the wind starts blowing and the ice starts pushing there is not much that will stop ice push.
The goal with this project was to install bigger willow wattle and more stakes closer together. The stakes were tied very well with strong rope. A new biodegradable erosion control blanket was installed behind the willow wattle and on the bank. We planted native plants in behind the willow wattle and on the bank.
Prior to the shoreline restoration project there was some raking of sand away from the lake and some rock movement.  
The hope is that the native plants with proper watering will grow roots fast enough to help the soil and erosion control blanket stay in place if we have ice push again. The larger willow wattle and more stakes hopefully will protect the toe from the ice push.
We are thankful that this project was funded by Land and Waters grant. — K. Roedl

08/13/2026

By Kristie Roedl, WAPOA Shoreline Restoration Board Member
The point at Camp Knutson receives a lot of wave action due to numerous boats and blowing wind. This was the first time that one of my shoreland restoration projects had stakes pulling out of the willow wattle and the twine used to tie the willow wattle coming apart. We installed new stakes and installed them closer together. We retied the willow wattle with double twine and heavy rope to tie the stakes to the willow wattle.
Shoreline restoration is not a straight line or a one size fits all solution. It’s a dance with mother nature and a long journey.
I was very thankful for the volunteers that came out to help with the repair.
-K. Roedl

Kristie

07/25/2026

On Monday, July 20, 2026 Seven people came together to install a shoreline restoration project on Lake Adney. The seven volunteers were comprised of neighbors, an intern from the National Loon Center, property owner and Laura Mendoza from Great Roots, the vendor managing the project.  Four soil wraps were built and installed along with 22 feet of willow wattle that was placed at the shoreline. Two hundred and forty-six native plants were installed in the soil wraps, on the biodegradable blankets, under the stairs and above the soil wraps.
Thank you for being a member of WAPOA as your dues help pay for the site visit for projects like this. This allows us to stop erosion and soil washing into our beautiful lakes and reduce the phosphors and algae growth.

07/25/2026

On Saturday, July 22, Shannon Watters of Watters’ Edge Realty and
WAPOA’s Outreach Board Director sponsored the first “Healthy Lakes— Strong Communities” event at the Corp of Engineers Park in Crosslake. The free day included a number of expert speakers presenting information on what people can do to protect our lakes from such things as Aquatic Invasive Species. “Spread The Word: Not The Species” was the quote of the day. Speakers included Shannon herself; Jessamyn Foley, Area Supervisor of the DNR’s Watercraft Inspection Program; Camden Droppo, Senior AIS Specialist for the MN DNR; Kristie Roedl, WAPOA Shoreline Restoration expert; Tony Coffey, President of WAPOA and Early AIS Identification Instructor; Jessica Shea and Amy Stoneking from the Crow Wing County Land Services Department; and Maddie Nistler from the National Loon Center.
A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO donors:
Dark Horse Brew who donated coffee & cookies
Subway of Moonlite Square who donated
sandwiches and chips; and
Watters Edge Realty Group who donated pastries and lemonade.
Thank you!!!