June 2025

With the arrival of warner weather, we decided in the June issue of LAKE magazine to offer a few longform stories on lake-related topics most relevant for the start of the season.

First, Michael Scott takes a look at the patrol of Oakland County lakes by the marine unit of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard’s office. Under the command of Lt. Brian Burwell, the marine unit operates on a budget of about $726,000, a far cry from the above $1 million budget of a decade ago.

The marine unit, responsible for about 450 lakes in the county, has a workforce of 43 part-time emergency marine deputies and nearly 20 full-time deputies who are trained in search and rescue diving. In terms of vessels, the marine unit has about 40 boats, and can rely on the department’s drone capabilities and a helicopter when needed.

Bouchard’s department also contributes personnel when needed to the Southeast Michigan Dive Group which was formed in 2022. It’s a mutual aid response dive group involving 31 counties in Michigan and northern Ohio – reportedly the largest in our state and quite possibly in the country, involving 383 divers and over 250 support personnel.

Our second longform piece this issue, by Mark Stowers, involves beach testing. Shortly after this issue arrives by mail into the homes, Oakland County Health Department will launch its 2025 season testing of swimming beaches.

Oakland County first began testing waters at public beaches in the early 1970s and in the 1990s began using as an indicator E. coli testing.

During the 2024 season the department collected and analyzed over 4,000 water samples over a 10-week period that this program runs each year. Using staff members and a summer intern program, the health department is responsible or some 250 known public swim areas, only a portion of which get tested each season.

Along with details of the program, we are also providing a two-page chart which lists those lakes selected for testing this year.

In this issue Stacy Gittleman takes a look at the worsening situation in the world of pollinators because of the use of pesticides and herbicides. Pollinators play an important role in the production of the food we eat, for starters.

The loss of pollinators is probably best described as an insect apocalypse. As just two examples – the monarch butterfly population has shrunk close to 72 percent and several native bumblebee species have declined by nearly 90 precent. A classic “canary in the coal mine” warning situation, if we still need one.

Of course, we often hear about the impact of chemical use in the field of agriculture, something that has been documented in endless studies showing the threat to the pollinator population. But there is an equally serious impact on the pollinator population from the residents in each local community, as many strive for that perfect lawn each year.

As we all know, what we collectively do locally can go a long ways to lessening the impact on the environment.

OUR FRONT COVER: This month our front cover was from a photo shot by Denny Berels of skier David Horne on Watkins Lake in Waterford. Now that the warmer season has officially started, a quick reminder that we are still accepting photo contributions for the cover of LAKE magazine. In return we will send a check for $100 if we select a photo for one of our covers. So please keep sending us your work. We just ask that the photos you send be high resolution. Vertical photos work best for the magazine’s cover. When you send in your photos (lakephotos@downtownpublications.com), please include your home mail address so we can send a check if your photo is selected.

David Hohendorf

Publisher

DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com