Members of the newly formed Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club spent Aug. 13 on Grass Lake with members of the Department of Natural Resources and Cloverleaf Lakes Protection Association doing survey work for a fish habitat project.
It was one of many projects the ambitious new group plans to take on in the coming months.
After selecting sites from pontoon boats last week, the group plans to return in the winter with bundles of tree branches and anchors. The branches will be placed and sink to the bottom of the lake when the ice thaws, providing habitat for fish.
Over the next few months the group will start a hunters safety program, develop an area beautification project, work on fish stocking and other outdoors youth projects.
“This is a youth orientated thing,” said Craig Ford, co-chair of the group. “Most of the membership is based in the Cloverleaf Lakes. We’re going to be doing some fish planting and mostly working with kids, youth hunt, fishing program stuff like that.”
The group was started when residents in Belle Plaine talked about the need for a focus on local habitat and quickly gained 36 members.
“A bunch of us got together,” Ford said. “Some of us are retired, to be honest, not all, and have some time to donate. Whatever we can do for the lakes. … Just to try and help with the area.”
The group held its first meeting June 1. Its first project was a highway cleanup June 5 along County Road Y. The group filled 11 bags with trash.
The club plans to hold monthly meetings every fourth Tuesday.
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