North American Lake Management Society

NALMS 2011 Symposium

From the Plains of Oklahoma in 2010, NALMS journeyed to Spokane, Washington and the Inland Northwest for the 31st International Symposium. The Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) welcomed approximately 480 attendees from 44 states, 6 Canadian provinces, Australia, China, Japan and Sweden to the 2011 Symposium, held October 26–28.

The theme for this year’s symposium was “Diverse and Sustainable Lake Management,” and was kicked off by plenary talks by Washington State Representative, Andy Billig and Dr. John Stockner of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre. Representative Billig was the prime sponsor of HB 1489, which was signed into law by Washington’s Governor in April 2011 and eliminates unnecessary phosphorous in lawn fertilizer. Dr. Stockner challenged attendees to seek out holistic and ecological management solutions for lake management issues to improve the health of the entire system, rather than solutions that may address short-term concerns, but don’t improve the long-term health of the lake ecosystem.

The technical program started on Tuesday with five pre-conference workshops on topics such as algal identification, internal phosphorus loading and alum treatments. The symposium program included an impressive array of 48 concurrent sessions, with 188 oral presentations and 40 poster presentations. Featured session topics included stewardship, cyanobacteria, fish studies, mercury and macrophyte management, in addition to many other topics. The program also included several sessions and workshops specifically geared toward NALMS’ ever-growing cadre of student attendees.

As with any NALMS Symposium, attendees didn’t spend all of their time in sessions. The annual Clean Lakes Classic 5K Run/Walk was held on a route along the Spokane River and through nearby Riverfront Park. This year’s event attracted a record number of 64 participants. Paul Gantzer from Kirkland, Washington was the overall winner with a time of 20 minutes, 36 seconds, which he did while running barefoot! Steph Neufeld from Edmonton, Alberta led the women and came in second place overall with a time of 22:15. She wore shoes.

Wednesday evening’s Exhibitors’ Reception and Poster Session gave attendees an extended opportunity to visit the exhibit booths as well as take in the poster presentations and interact with the poster presenters. On Thursday, NALMS’ Annual Awards and Recognition Reception honored NALMS members and friends for their contributions to NALMS and to the field of lake management. NALMS’ most prestigious awards, the Secchi Disk Award, went to a very surprised Dick Osgood, who was also the Chair of NALMS’ Awards Committee and emcee of the awards ceremony. The Awards Banquet concluded with entertainment, by The McManus Comedies, based on the writing of Patrick McManus, a former editor of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life.

NALMS and the host committee would like to thank all of the companies and organizations that offered sponsorship and support for this year’s symposium. Without their generous support, as well as that of the more than 40 exhibitors, we would not be able to provide the conference experience that our attendees expect.

Thank you to all who attended this year’s symposium! We look forward to seeing you in November at NALMS 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin!