MN COLA March Membership Meeting - March 17
2026-03-17 09:00 - 11:00 (America/Chicago)
The March Membership meeting will be held on March 17, 2026 at 9 – 11 am. Click here to register anytime before the meeting. The Zoom link for the meeting will be provided following registration in an email from Zoom. Watch for it and be sure to save the email.
Here’s what’s on the agenda:

Dr. Nick Phelps from MAISRC will talk to us about compelling new research on the value of the AIS Prevention Aid. That is the program that provided $10 million annually for AIS prevention. As you may recall, the $10 million was at risk in the 2025 Legislative session but was retained for another 2 years. It is slated to be back on the chopping block, so it is vital that we all understand what it has delivered to Minnesota.
Jeff Forester from MN Lakes and Rivers Advocates will provide an update on the 2026 Legislative session that began in the middle of February. Hopefully some action will happen this year, but it is a challenge as the House is evenly split and the DFL holds a one-seat majority in the Senate.
Keegan Lund from SePro will talk about a creative approach to proactively stop the spread of starry stonewort in Minnesota. We ended 2025 with 37 waterbodies infested since the first infestation was found 10 years ago at Lake Koronis. Getting a handle on this high impact AIS is critical now! Keegan has been with us before, and you may also remember him as an AIS specialist at the DNR.

Register here.

Area Lakes Conference
2026-03-24 10:00 - 14:30
Passionate about protecting our lakes? Join us on March 24th for the Lakes Area Conference! In partnership with Kandiyohi County Coalition of Lake Associations (COLA), we’re hosting a free and engaging event for lake owners, lake associations, and anyone who cares about protecting our waters. Hear from local experts about safe wake zones and preventing shoreline damage, shoreline protection and the role of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, watershed district resources and projects, starry stonewort updates in our area, and other helpful tools for lake communities.
The event will take place at the Dethlefs Community Center (217 Hillcrest Ave, Spicer, MN) on March 24 from 10:00 AM–2:30 PM (doors open at 9:30 AM).
Please RSVP to ruth56288@gmail.com by March 9th. We look forward to seeing you there!
The event is free, but an RSVP ensures enough lunches will be available.
Download the meeting agenda here.
