Why We Need Shoreline Stewards
The Shoreline Stewards Program aims to promote landscaping, yard design, and maintenance practices among homeowners and businesses that protect Lake Leelanau and its watershed.
While some activities can harm our lake and watershed, many homeowners and businesses do so without understanding the consequences or how easily they can be avoided.
Central to water quality protection is avoiding:
- The use of unnecessary pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
- Improper management of yard waste and shoreline buffer zones.
- Poor management of stormwater runoff and groundwater contamination.
Natural green buffer zones around the lake help filter water and protect shorelines from erosion. However, many of these natural barriers have been lost to lawns and landscaping. Impervious surfaces like buildings, driveways, and patios can cause further harm.
What You Can Do
Adopt Best Practices
We are happy to report that our tests, overall, show that the quality of our water is at a high level, has remained relatively stable, and compares favorably to neighboring lakes. However, excess nutrients and sediment, lakeshore development, increasing numbers of residents and visitors, and more severe storms are disruptors of the natural balance. These increasing stressors mean we must be diligent about adopting best practices to protect our water.
Join our Shoreline Stewards Forum
We've launched a Shoreline Stewards Forum on Facebook! This space is for those of us who live along Lake Leelanau to focus on shoreline protection best practices and share about it. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, the forum is your space to post photos, ask questions, and contribute to the shoreline stewardship conversation.
Learn More and Rate Your Shore
The Michigan Shoreland Stewardship Program has created an online survey that allows you to rate your shoreland and, in the process, get customized advice on how to make improvements to your property. It takes approximately 30 minutes. Come prepared with the basic dimensions of your property.
Please select the Lake Leelanau Lake Association when taking the survey. We encourage you to register. By registering, your data will be saved so you can access personalized recommendations and update your score as you improve your property.
Schedule a Complimentary Shoreline Consultation
Everyone can do their part to protect Lake Leelanau from their shoreline and the Lake Leelanau Lake Association is here to help. If you want to protect our lake and improve your lakefront property but don’t know where to start, our trained Shoreline Ambassadors can come to you for a complimentary shoreline consultation. During a shoreline consultation, we will give you advice on how and where to plant native plants, how to control erosion, and how best to manage your property to protect Lake Leelanau. Learn more about the program here, or click below to schedule your own shoreline consultation.
Consult our Resources
If you have not already, consider subscribing to our Watershed Wednesday eBulletin. This newsletter arrives in your inbox once or twice a month with our latest blog post, lake news, safety tips, and upcoming events about Lake Leelanau and the Association. We also maintain lists of nurseries where you can get native plants and useful links.
