The Eagle River Chain of Lakes Association (ERCLA) is celebrating 25 years of conservation efforts on the 28-lake Eagle River Chain this year, marking a quarter century of community- and volunteer-driven conservation, education and lake protection.

ERCLA celebrated its Silver Jubilee at its 25th annual membership meeting July 25 at the Kalmar Community Center, which was the site of the association’s first official annual meeting on Aug. 9, 2002.

“This milestone meeting was a true celebration of what a community can achieve when it stands together to protect what it loves,” said Jody Voight, president of ERCLA.

Back in the fall of 2001, what was first a grass-roots effort by a small group has now evolved into a community-driven goal to improve and protect the quality of the Eagle River Chain. There are currently over 935 ERCLA members, representing at least 53% of waterfront properties. There is a management plan for every lake on the chain. ERCLA is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization.

“For 25 years, our members’ annual dues have gone straight into projects that keep our lakes clean, safe, and beautiful for generations to come,” stated Voight.

Dedication is a word to describe what the association has done for the last quarter-century, with 100% volunteer-backed leadership. From pulling weeds or sitting on different committees or the board of directors, none of the strides the ERCLA has made would be possible without the hard work and time that volunteers put in.

Impactful projects

Over the span of the last two and a half decades, ERCLA’s impact has stretched all over the Eagle River Chain. That includes countless projects and management efforts that ERCLA participates in throughout the year. Member dues go directly towards management projects, along with ERCLA working closely with the Unified Lower Eagle River Chain of Lakes Commission (comprising the City of Eagle River and the towns of Cloverland, Lincoln, and Washington) to secure DNR grants that fund the management of Eurasian water milfoil (EWM) and other invasive plants.

Other key projects ERCLA focuses on include:

-Water quality and citizen lake monitoring: Through the Wisconsin DNR’s Citizens Lake Monitoring Network (CLMN), volunteers conduct regular water sampling to track things like chlorophyll, phosphorus, and temperature, providing critical data for tracking long-term lake health.

- Shoreline restoration and plant protection: ERCLA promotes projects that restore natural shorelines — preventing erosion and keeping harmful runoff out of area lakes. The association educates property owners on native shoreland plant health.

- Aquatic Plant Management (APM) and AIS defense: ERCLA balances recreational use with ecological preservation. This includes mitigation efforts against non-native weeds, funding local Clean Boats, Clean Waters interns, and maintaining pink buckets at nine local boat landings, used to help boaters collect aquatic invasive weed fragments.

Outside of hands-on impact, ERCLA also assists with funding for multiple other projects, including the maintenance and replacement of more than 100 buoys placed on the Chain annually, one-fifth of the annual expenses for the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office’s patrol boat and scholarships for local high school students who plan on pursuing a career in environmental sciences, biology and conservation.

As ERCLA looks to work towards another 25 years of helping keep the chain healthy, the challenges facing the local lakes continue to evolve. The association invites locals and visitors alike to join the mission. Becoming an ERCLA member costs only $60 a year.

For more information about the association’s history, mission, other specific management plans, and to download educational resources, visit their website at ercla.org.