Graphic Information Systems Center

Citizen Assessment of Grindstone Lake

Abstract

The Grindstone Lake Association has an active history in learning more about lake and shore lake resources and in leading conservation efforts to improve the ecology and aesthetics of Grindstone Lake. The effort to compile data included in this plan extends the association's efforts in conserving the area's special resources. In this initiative, citizens from Grindstone Lake partnered with professionals from various organizations to inventory watershed and shoreline characteristics important for lake planning and conservation efforts. Throughout the process citizens have invested generously with their time and energy. With professionals training citizens inventoried emergent aquatic macrophytes, coarse woody habitat, aquatic invasive species, shoreline development, riparian trees, veteran trees, aesthetic characteristics, lake- bottom structure, and wildlife. Equipped with new skills, citizens inventoried over 12 miles of shoreline documenting ecological and aesthetic characteristics, features, and indicators.

Through past planning and management efforts are common on Grindstone Lake, This report is the first known systematic, spatial assessment of Grindstone Lakes' characteristics. These spatial inventories provide an objective snapshot of the resources that exist along the Grindstone Lake shoreline, riparian area, and littoral zone during the summer of 2010. These data, preserved using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), not only serve the interests of this planning project, but will also serve to monitor changed on and around Grindstone Lake over time.

Principal Investigators

Douglas Miskowiak, GIS Education Specialist 

Student Investigators

Jon Galloy, GIS Technician         

Michael Broton, GIS Technician         

Corinna Neeb, GIS Technician 

Project Report

Grindstone Lake Final Report (without maps)

Project Maps

• Map 1.0 Projected Extent and Context
• Map 4.1 Water Resources
• Map 4.2 Environmental Corridors
• Map 4.3 Pre- settlement Vegetation
• Map 4.4 Landcover 2001
• Map 4.5 Publicly Managed Lands
• Map 4.6 Impervious Surfaces
• Map 4.7 Tree Canopy Density
• Map 4.8 Glacial Geology
• Map 5.1 Shoreline Ownership
• Map 5.2 Shoreline Bottom Structure
• Map 5.3 Riparian Wetland
• Map 5.4 Emergent Aquatic Macrophyte
• Map 5.5 Course Woody Habitat
• Map 5.6a Visible Shoreline Development
• Map 5.6b Visible Shoreline Development
• Map 5.6c Visible Shoreline Development
• Map 5.6d Visible Shoreline Development
• Map 5.7 Riparian Trees
• Map 5.8 Veteran Tree Species
• Map 5.9 Shoreline Aesthetic Condition
• Map 5.10 Wildlife Observations
• Map 6.1 Critical Habitat Assessment
• Map 6.2 Priority Shorelines Assessment

Interactive Web Maps

Grindstone Web Maps

Photo Album