Blog Archives

News from the Oceana Conservation District

6/30/2019

USDA Offers Assistance for Un-Planted Michigan Fields
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering conservation assistance to Michigan farmers unable to plant crops due to wet conditions. The USDA is making conservation funds available for farmers to plant summer cover crops to help reduce soil erosion, control weeds and improve soil quality. Read More …

Nature Ranger Day Camp Starts July 1!
The July 8 session is full, but the OCD has space for three more campers in the other eight sessions which will be held every Monday in July and August. If you were hoping to register for Nature Ranger Day Camp, please do so right away! Register Now …

Nitrate Screening
Oceana Conservation District's Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) is offering free well water screenings to test for nitrates and nitrites. You can deliver a one-ounce water sample with a completed form between 8 AM and 4 PM on Wednesday, July 10. The event is free and open to the public. This service is for private drinking water wells only. Read More …

Invasive Species Management Updates

Japanese Knotweed and Phragmites Our 7-county Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) has grant funding to continue treating Japanese Knotweed and Phragmites in Oceana County. Funding amounts have changed this year so if you would like treatment, you will need to pay into a cost-share program. Individual landowner contributions are based on the size of infestation. We are working with Muskegon Conservation District to do the treatment work. In order to receive treatments we will need a signed cooperator agreement there is a small fee for the treatments. For further information contact the OCD office at 231/861-5600.
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) Last winter, crews headed out to lake shore areas of Oceana County to survey hemlock trees for the invasive pest called Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Treatments are underway and so far 3,250 infected trees have been treated from Charles Mears State Park to Little Sable Point and crew members are currently working south toward Stony Lake. More surveys will take place this fall and winter in the southern half of the county with treatments to follow next summer.
Oak Wilt Residents, utility workers, and road commissions need to continue to be diligent and avoid cutting/trimming any oak trees until at least July 15. Oak wilt causes sudden death of red oaks. Our forester can provide assistance on diagnosing oak wilt and can share information on how to prevent the spread to other oaks.

You may read the full July Newsletter with links to related information online. You will be able to access past newsletters from this link as well.

Michigan's New Fireworks Law

6/21/2019

As we approach the Independence Day holiday, your Board of Trustees wishes to inform the membership that significant amendments to the fireworks law went into effect at the end of last year. The amended law states that:

Fireworks may be used on one's own property, but only on certain days at certain times (see below).
Fireworks cannot be discharged on "public property" or on the property of anyone else without the owner's expressed permission.

Our Protective Covenants prohibit the use of fireworks. Consequently fireworks cannot be used on CSA property, which includes the roads, the park across from the North Beach access (at Erie and Ottawa Trails), the Beach, and the beach accesses areas. This means that unless someone is either the owner of the property or has the expressed permission of the owner, fireworks cannot be discharged at any time within Cobmoosa Shores.

Furthermore, it is against the law for anyone under the influence of "controlled substances" or alcohol to discharge fireworks anywhere and at any time.

The amended law has reduced the number of days on which fireworks can be legally used anywhere in Michigan to:

the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day
June 29 through July 4
July 5 (only if it is a Friday or Saturday)
the Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day
New Year's Eve

Other things to bear in mind

Even if you (or another sober person with your permission) uses fireworks on the days allowed by law on your property, consideration for your neighbors suggests that you use them only before 11 PM.
We are over 11 miles away from the nearest volunteer fire department. Road construction this summer on Shelby Road and Stony Lake Road may make it more complicated for fire departments to reach Cobmoosa Shores, so it will take even longer to reach us. Although it is currently rather wet, there will be times when vegetation will be dry and very combustible. If you, a guest, or a renter use fireworks that causes a fire that does damage to someone else's property, including CSA property, you will be liable for damage to that property. Landlords may therefore want to include in their rental contracts an expressed prohibition against using fireworks.

Although the Protective Covenants suggest that under some circumstance the Board might give permission for the use of fireworks on CSA property, that has not happened within memory. Therefore, don't count on it!

News from the Oceana Conservation District

Michigan's New Fireworks Law

Archives

Categories