Pattison Lake Association social committee presents events

Derelict docks and trash removed from Pattison Lake in May 2024

Images by Dianna Evans, Paula Lowe

Nearly 8 tons of old docks and junk were removed from Pattison Lake in mid-May. It took nearly three days to identify the docks, corral and tow them to designated areas,  break them up and haul them away.

Thanks to the guidance of Thomas Fuchs, nearly 20 people helped clean up the lake,  served snacks and took photographs. Thanks to Doug Adamson, Charles Butler, Nancy Carlson, Scott DeWitt, Dianna Evans, Dan and Paula Lowe, Chris Maun, Lisa McLaughlin, Mark and Laurie Muenchow, Brian Muirhead, Thomas Fuchs, Cliff Hawkeswood, Pamela Holsinger-Fuchs, Bob McLaughlin, and John and Lori Suessman.

Special thanks to Lee Goebel who donated the use of his pontoon boat. A big thank you to Cliff Hawkeswood and Scott DeWitt for using their heavy equipment to remove the docks and load debris into trailers and haul it to the dump.

Thanks to lake residents who donated funds to help pay for the debris dump fees, which cost $944.

When you install a new dock, be sure to remove your old dock from the lake.

In 2023, 14 tons of old docks and debris were removed from the lake at a cost of $1,600. We appreciate donations from lake residents to help pay for the dump fees.

August 2023: Plants on Pattison

Photos by Laurie Muenchow

Who knew there were so many aquatic plants calling Pattison Lake home? There are approximately 30 aquatic plants in and around our lake. They can be divided into shoreline, floating and submerged plants. A few of which are noxious or invasive.

In July 2023, Lisa McLaughlin and Jane Poole collected samples of about 25 of those plants from the North and South basins of the lake. Plants were displayed in jars at the PLA annual picnic to show lake residents and later photographed so we have a record of the plants collected thus far. Thanks to Laurie Muenchow and Lisa McLaughlin for the photography work. 
 
Thanks also to others who have signed up to help with future plant identification and education work! Next summer we hope to conduct periodic aquatic plant surveys to help us further understand where problem plants may be thriving. If you are interested in joining us – please let the Association know. 
 
Some of the most common plants found in Pattison Lake include: 
Submerged: Whorled milfoil. Common elodea, coontail, curly leaf pondweed, common arrowhead, water-nymph, nitella, eel grass pondweed, water celery/tape grass, filamentous algae
Floating: Large leaf pondweed, fragrant water lily (white), yellow water-lily (spatterdock)
Shoreline: Sedge, naked bullrush, cattail, jewelweed, yellow-flag iris, water hemlock, forget-me-knot, reed canary grass, bird’s foot trefoil, Japanese knotweed, spotted lady’s thumb
(For a more complete list, see resources below.)
 
We are fortunate to not have the Eurasian milfoil nor the Brazilian elodea. Both are highly invasive and problems in other lakes. However, we DO HAVE yellow-flag iris, fragrant water lily, curly leaf pondweed, Japanese knotweed, water hemlock and reed canary grass. All of which are invasive and /or noxious. 
 
If you have yellow flag iris on your property, now is the time to be cutting seed pods off and disposing of them so the plants do not spread. They need to be placed into your garbage and not your compost. The whole plant should be dug or pulled out (wearing gloves as the sap can be toxic) if possible as it also spreads through roots. The plants (and seed pods) should be placed in the garbage. Consider wearing eye protection while removing these plants. 
 
Each newsletter we will highlight a plant to know: Curly pondweed is a submerged plant you may have seen in the lake. It grows to be thick later in the summer. There are many pondweeds in Washington (19 species total) which benefit wildlife - however this one is invasive. 
 
It is important to remember that most plants in Pattison Lake are beneficial as habitat for wildlife, help to stabilize the shoreline, and help to filter pollutants from the land reaching the lake.
 
We have been lucky to have people who are willing to share their expertise with us. Barry Halverson (Lake Lawrence LMD, Yelm) was very generous in leading a lake survey which helped us find and identify the most prevalent problem plants and Doug Karman (chairman of the Long Lake LMD steering committee) graciously shared plant identification information used at Long Lake. Personnel from Department of Ecology and Thurston County Noxious Weed Control were also helpful.
 
Some helpful resources for identifying aquatic plants:

King County weeds

Snohomish County aquatic plants

If you are interested in a booklet "Thurston County’s Guide to Noxious Weeds", please reach out to the Association to get a copy. Other printed resources are also available.

Dock or Treat was a big hit: October 2023

Images by Dianna Evans

A princess, mermaid, horse and dinosaur were some of the "creatures" that boarded pontoons and a boat for our first dock and treat event on Pattison Lake. There were 20 children and 23 adults who enjoyed the beautiful weather to fill their bags with treats. Thanks to the 19 families who provided treats. Many of the families also were very generous, providing treats to the adults on the boats.

We had a family of four from Venezuela who recently immigrated to the USA and the three kids had huge smiles at their first trick or treating experience.  Heidi Mininger brought two cousins from Switzerland to enjoy this experience and they handed out Swiss Toblerone.

Special thanks to Linda and Ross Robb, Thomas Fuchs, Lee Goebel, Cliff Hawkeswood and Brian Muirhead for providing the boats for the day. We would like to make this an annual event but will need additional boats in the future so if interested in being involved in the future please contact the social chair.

For more photos from the event, see the Pattison Lake Association Facebook page.