Scholars study issues facing Whitefish Lake

The time of human influence on

Whitefish Lake has been relatively short, but still has changed its

landscape.

That was the message the Whitefish Lake

Institute Executive Director Mike Koopal tried to impress upon a

group of Road Scholars visiting Whitefish Lake last week.

“We’ve been here 125 years,” he said.

“That’s 1 percent of the lake’s history.”

Still, there has been great

environmental pressure on the watershed from development and

biological threats.

Koopal gave a group of about 20 a crash

course in the history and concerns of Whitefish Lake. The program

was part of a Road Scholar program — formally known as Elderhostel

— which held Whitefish and Glacier National Park-centered education

programs here this summer. The Whitefish Lake Institute has

partnered with Road Scholar to bring participants to the area for

educational series.

The participants came from all across

the United States. Many of them were familiar with the issues

facing Whitefish Lake because they had seen similar things in their

home states. They also wanted to know more.

“We want people to be excited about the

resource,” Koopal explained. “They can collect this information and

take it back with them to their communities. They might be

different ecosystems, but a lot of the issues are universal.”

Koopal gave a short talk on the threats

facing the lake and reasons why it’s important to thwart those

threats.

“The city draws part of its drinking

water from Whitefish Lake,” he said. “It’s very important to

residents to keep that water clean. Not only just for that, but

also for contact exposure from recreation.”

Historically Whitefish Lake has been

changed with the introduction of non-native fish and mysis shrimp.

Originally planted to improve feed for fish, the shrimp eventually

negatively impacted the fishery.

Future invasive species, such as the

threat of zebra mussels, could changed the lake again, he

noted.

“Ecosystem could be in even more chaos

if other (non-natives) are introduced,” he said.

Development and timber harvest have had

impacts on the lake as well, with runoff moving more easily into

the lake, particularly during flood years.

“As timber harvest has increased so has

sediment in Whitefish Lake resulting from flooding,” Koopal

said.

After getting a basic lesson on

Whitefish Lake, the Road Scholars moved to the edge of Whitefish

Lake for a fish dissection demonstration and lesson on water bugs.

The scholars learned that fish have very good eyesight that

includes seeing color and that a fish’s scales have rings that tell

its age. They also got to identify bugs taken from Viking Creek

near the lake.