Field Notes: Lure of a Lake

Bob Brush thinks volunteering is for the birds. And for the fish, and the muskrats, and the children, especially the children.

For the past decade, the septuagenarian sportsman has dedicated his days to leading a massive citizen effort to bring a ravaged southern Minnesota lake back to life. Thanks to the thousands of hours he and others have invested, fish and wildlife are thriving once again in and around one of the area's most treasured natural features. And, to Brush's delight, so are the community's kids - their childhood enriched, as his once was, by the bountiful recreational opportunities a healthy lake offers.

The focus of Brush's attention is Lura Lake, a 1,200-acre, shallow body of water lying halfway between Mankato and the Iowa border. In Brush's youth it was a great spot to hunt and fish. But over the years Lura Lake began to change as farmers plowed closer to the waters edge. Nutrients and soil flowed into the lake, clouding the waters. Bullheads, buffalo, and carp grubbed about, further reducing water quality.

Brush got involved in the cleanup in 1994, when DNR area fisheries manager Hugh Valiant asked him to help muster local forces to restore the deteriorating lake. A longtime resident with plenty of community connections and a knack for getting things done, Brush seemed just the man to lead the effort.

And he was. The first task was to rid the lake of rough fish. The Reinvest in Minnesota program would foot half the $70,000 bill, but it would be up to Brush to raise the matching funds. Valiant figured it would take three years. Brush talked the project up and had the money in hand in three months.

"He didn't do it the easy way, either," says Valiant. "It was 20 bucks here and 30 bucks there."

After the DNR cleared out the carp and stocked the lake with walleye, bass, and other game fish, the next step was to stabilize the shore. DNR assistant area fisheries manager Todd Kolander put together a plan using local fieldstone, willow cuttings, and grass seeding to do the job. Then he and Brush set out to convince farmers to stop plowing to the water's edge and to allow volunteers to install rocks, trees, and prairie grasses to hold the shoreline in place. Brush approached the neighbors, and after four years (with the help of Conservation Reserve Program incentives) finally talked one into giving it a go. After that it was "word-of-mouth spread," Kolander says.

Next Brush had to scare up the money to do the shoreline restoration. "We raised $10,000 with lutefisk feeds, then found a contractor and told him, "Go as far as you can and then quit." The money lasted for 4,500 feet.

More fund raising, more negotiations around the kitchen table, more rallying of volunteers. Bit by bit, stretches of salvaged shoreland sprang up around Lura Lake. Today, the erosion problem has been solved, and close to half of the 13-mile shoreline has been transformed. The lake is clearer than it's been in years. Game fish thrive, and loons have even begun nesting there. "Everything seems to be just excellent," Kolander says. "The local property owners couldn't be more pleased."

Donations of time, money, and supplies have been key to the restoration's success. Local residents salvaged fieldstones to line the lake banks. Chuck Klammer, chief executive officer of Associated Finishing Inc. in Mankato, donated several thousand dollars' worth of limestone rock. Volunteers hauled away old tires, bicycles, and other trash. Schoolchildren, Minnesota Conservation Corps crews, and Sentence to Service workers planted thousands of trees. An attorney provides free legal advice.

"We never pay anybody any money - it's all volunteers but the contractor," Brush says. As a result, the restoration has cost only $150,000 - a fraction of the $1.3 million the Blue Earth County Soil and Water Conservation District had estimated it would take.

"The reason for the difference has been community participation," Valiant says. "It's an outstanding example of how an agricultural community can pull together and restore the landscape."

Brush has worked hard to engage local residents in the rewards as well as the work of restoring the lake. The Lura Lake Association, which he formed to anchor the efforts, holds frequent fishing contests and an annual lake fair-complete with free hot dogs, sloppy joes, and chips dished up by Brush's wife, Hazel. "Everything we do is free, to promote the lake," Brush says.

Although Lura Lake has been its main focus, the association has branched out into several other conservation efforts as well. The group helped acquire several conservation properties, including an 11-acre public access on Ida Lake east of Amboy, and a 148-acre wildlife management area with 3,200 feet of shoreline on Rice Lake east of Winnebago. It is also working with agencies to restore water-quality-protecting wetlands adjacent to Rice Lake south of Wells and Bass Lake near Delavan. Other projects have included construction of a four-acre fishing pond and birdwatching station at Minnesota Lake; installation of aeration systems on Ida, Lura, and Rice lakes; and protection of remnant oak savanna sites between Winnebago and Easton. Plans in the works include restoring more wetlands that had previously been drained for farming.

"We've got lots and lots of things to do," Brush says. And, despite health problems that have confined him to a wheelchair, he plans to get them done. After all, Brush says, "I want to leave the world a better place to live."

Mary Hoff