Shoreline on Lower Bottle Lake Protected (MN)

St. Paul, Minn. 3/21/2007: The Trust of Public Land (TPL) announced the sale of 33 acres including over 3,000 feet of shore line on Lower Bottle Lake to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The acquisition by the DNR will lead to the creation of a new Aquatic Management Area (AMA) on a strategic peninsula located between Lower Bottle Lake and Emma Lake immediately to its south.

“We are very pleased. Our lake associations strongly support this new DNR site. It will help maintain water quality, protect wildlife and birds living near the lake and preserve the forests from development,” said landowners Mary Jeanne and Dan Schneeman. Mary Jeanne Schneeman is also a board member of the Upper & Lower Bottle Lake, Lake Emma and Stocking Lake Association.

“Recent DNR studies have shown that as shoreline areas are developed fish habitat decreases and water quality is negatively impacted,” according to the DNR Fisheries’ Doug Kingsley, based in Park Rapids, Minnesota.

Kingsley added that the conservation of 3,000 feet of shoreline on Lower Bottle Lake would provide important habitat for spawning, nursery, feeding, resting and cover for fish.

“The acquisition of this site as a new AMA not only protects high quality fish and wildlife habitat and native plant communities, but also surface and groundwater quality in an area of Minnesota rapidly developing in second homes,” added senior project manager Bob McGillivray from TPL, who was instrumental in the sale.

The new Bottle Lake AMA supports the nesting of species of special concern such as bald eagles and trumpeter swans, which are particularly vulnerable to lakeshore development.

TPL negotiated the acquisition of this strategic property, helped assemble a funding package, and then conveyed it to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which is creating a new Bottle Lake Aquatic Management Area (AMA). The land will be managed by the DNR to promote spawning habitat and the preservation of natural resources generally. It will be open to the public for fishing and wildlife observation.

Funding for this acquisition came from a variety of sources including the Remediation Fund Grant Program, the Clean Water Legacy Act and Critical Habitat license plate funds through the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) match program. A donation from the Schneemans also helped make this acquisition possible.

As part of the Northwoods Initiative Program and the new Healthy Waters program[1] of TPL’s Minnesota State Office, the Bottle Lake AMA is one of many properties that protect the health of land and water important to Minnesota’s rich outdoor experience.

The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places.

In Minnesota, TPL has protected more than 30,000 acres valued at more than $60 million including the recent acquisition and protection of the Chainsaw Sisters Mudro Lake portage access adjacent to the BWCAW, an addition to the future Neenah Creek Regional Park in St. Cloud, the creation of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary east of downtown St. Paul and the most prominent portion of historic Pilot Knob in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. TPL’s Healthy Waters program has a ten-year goal of protecting or reclaiming up to 5,000 acres of natural resource lands that serve primarily as the headwaters of the Mississippi River.