Remember, you may think your project seems small. But multiply your plans by all your neighbours around the lake and cumulatively those 'minor" alterations have a devastating effect to the lake. Think " LOW IMPACT". Humans have an overwhelming impact on a shoreline both physically and visually. By applying city growth concepts to a lakeside, we turn our shoreline into another form of suburbia. By building large homes, cutting down trees, pulling up natural vegetation to plant lawns, disturbing the near shore lake bottom with docks and boathouses and tying it all up with retaining walls, we transform a lakeside from a functioning ecosystem to a hole filled with water. Keeping a woody corridor from the shoreline to the "second tier" will encourage animals to visit "your" water's edge. Wild trilliums (see photo) can be "retained" by keeping a good fraction of the maple stand in which the trilliums thrive. Human activities threaten the water quality of our lake. Many contaminants reach the lake from both surface water runoff and ground water flow. Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides from landscaping; chemicals spills from automoblies and yard equipment, phosphates from septic systems, bacteria and phosphorous from pet droppings and erosion from hardening the shoreline with paved driveways and rooftops are just a few ways what we do on land affects what happens in the water. Human inhabitants will always impact a shoreline ecosystem. There are plenty of ways your lifestyle can become low impact. You can: Join the TLCA and learn more about Trout Lake and how to respect it and keep it healthy. Maintain or restore vegetation to your shoreline for a natural lakeside. Maintain your septic system in good working order. Follow pumpout by-laws. Plan projects to minimize their impact on the shoreline. Remember to consult and get a permit when required. Use phosphate- free, environmentally friendly products in and around the home or cottage. Dispose of non-biodegradable products, paints, unused building materials at an appropriate Waste Depot. Compost kitchen wastes to use as a natural garden "fertilizer". Float your dock above the shallows, share docking facilities ,or better yet, go dock free. Replace stone, concrete or timber retaining walls with vegetation. Reclaim the living environment for erosion control and natural filtration. Build further back from the water Dispose of pet litter with your garbage collection. The quality of our life can be maintained in balance with the needs of a healthy lake ecosystem . Many animals seek out the shallows to feed. Examples of these are ampibians such as frogs, waterfowl of all descriptions, king fishers, sand pipers (see photo), beaver, muskrat and mink. Encouraging aquatic plants to grow in the shallow areas of your shoreline will attract minnows, and other life that will in turn attract fish, providing them with both food and shelter, not to mention spawning habitat. Aquatic "weeds" (macrophytes) should not be viewed as weeds but rather as essential fish habitat as they are essential to the ecological health of Trout Lake's ecosystem. Being clean and cold, macrophytes are in very short supply in Trout Lake, and their protection is important. A low impact lifestyle is environmentally friendly and has tremendous benefits for the shoreline. It is the first big step in changing our influence on the shoreline from a negative to a positive one. Take the next step; go LOW IMPACT.

Docks / Shorelines - The Ribbon of Life / Naturalizing the Shoreline Planning Your Redevelopment / Low Impact Lifestyles Attracting Nesting Bass to YOUR Shoreline