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IVANHOE -- For the past 10 years, managing water plants on Lake Shaokatan has meant balancing the needs of wildlife like fish with the needs of people who boat and use the lake for recreation. Now it's time to look at updating the plan, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said.
The DNR is currently accepting public feedback on Shaokatan's Lake vegetation management plan. Comments will be accepted through Monday, Aug. 31, DNR spokespeople said.
"With the 10-year update to the plan we're doing now, we're seeking any feedback the public might have," said Nate Hodgins, DNR regional assistant fisheries manager. "We will take all feedback into account, and if there is a significant amount, we can hold a public meeting to discuss any ideas or issues at hand."
Lake Shaokatan, which is located southwest of Ivanhoe in Lincoln county, has had a vegetation management plan since 2016. It's an unusual situation among Minnesota lakes, Hodgins said.
"Most lake vegetation plans are used for invasive species," he said. The plan for Lake Shaokatan, on the other hand, lays out a system to decide whether to control native water plants with herbicide to allow more open water.
“Treatment of native vegetation offshore is rare in public waters, because vegetation is habitat,” regional fisheries manager Craig Soupir said in a news release. “However, in shallow lakes, like Shaokatan, dense vegetation can form across the entire body making recreation difficult."
According to the DNR, Lake Shaokatan has a typical maximum depth of about 11 feet.
Under the current management plan, DNR staff check the levels of vegetation in the lake through a process called a point-intercept survey.
"There are about 200 points on the lake," said Durel Carstensen, DNR fisheries specialist. "We create a grid across the entire lake, and we distribute the points throughout the lake. We go to the same points every year, use a rake to pull out vegetation, and we sample from there."
If 85% or more of the survey points show common or abundant levels of vegetation, treatment is allowed that year, the DNR said. Hodgins said Shaokatan has not needed like-wide treatment since 2023. Factors like the clarity of the water in a given year can affect the density of lake plants, he said.
Hodgins said the DNR is in the process of updating the vegetation management plan on the lake.
"Nothing is changing from the current operating procedures," he said. But even without planned changes, gathering public feedback is part of the update process.
Hodgins said the DNR will compile the feedback it receives in September. The updated management plan would likely go into effect over the winter, he said.
A full draft of the 2026 Lake Shaokatan Vegetation Management Plan is available at the DNR Windom Area Fisheries webpage, at mndnr.gov/areas/fisheries/windom. To provide feedback, members of the public can email Nate Hodgins at nate.hodgins@state.mn.us or call 507-233-1216 by 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 31.