Our Treasured Chain of Lakes

 

Our Treasured Chain of Lakes is a book under work by the Valparaiso Chain of Lakes Watershed Group.  The book is built on the expertise of many of our members and affiliates.  Many of the chapters have been completed and are being edited by our copy editor, Samantha Cornwell.  For more information on the progress of this book, please email the Valparaiso Chain of Lakes Watershed Group.

Once completed, this book will be published.  More information on how to purchase your copy of Our Treasured Chain of Lakes will be found here as the book nears publication!

Below is the table of the contents of the book:

PART I: NATURE

1.  a. Geography, Geology & Hydrology  by  Robin Scribailo & Peter Wilkin, Tom Janke;  2b. The Value of Biodiversity by Spencer Cortwright
2. Microscopic Inhabitants  by  Kathy Luther (req IDEM who can not find) & Robin Scribailo (req Robin); a. Bacteria & Viruses; b. Phyto Plankton; c. Zoo Plankton
3. Aquatic Vegetation (Submergent & Floating) by Robin Scribailo & Mitch Alix (done many pages, req e-format)     Terrestrial & Emergent Wetland Plants  ??????  Robin & Mitch study of Silver Lake
4. Native Terrestrial Plant Communities by Spencer Cortwright Dave Hamillia 929-4118 has provided CD: hundreds of photos of plants found in the watershed with permission to use those he took.  He has volunteered to take any others we need.
5.  a. Ecological significance of the Vale Park Property  by  Sandy OBrien; 9b. Cindy McCormack & Noel are putting together a pamphlet entitled “The Plants of Silver Lake”. The booklet might eventually be included as part of the plant chapters as the book progresses.  The pamphlet will contain species lists of terrestrial plants identified by Sandy and aquatics discovered by Robin.  Include a few photos from the CD to cover dominant species, invasives, and the most rare or endangered plants.  Alan Resetar: some zoology chapters are organisms that might live their rather than what is actually there.  Some chapters could have been based on actual occurrence data or cover groups that we have occurrence data.
6. The Invertebrates by Bruce Cummings .. Aquatic Insects by George E. Smolka
7. Reptiles & Amphibians  by Spencer Cortwright & Gary Glowacki  (done)  Will Brown?13Fish by  Nathan Brindza & Tom Simon, Thomas_Simon@fws.gov (Simon et al. in IAS covers this)
8.Fish  by  Nathan Brindza & Tom Simon, Thomas_Simon@fws.gov (Simon et al. in IAS covers this). Nathan (has left) did fish study & published report with supervision of Bob Robertson BRobertson@dnr.IN.us
9. Birds   by  Laurie Eberhardt (done)
10. a. Mammals  by  Laurie Eberhardt (req from Laurie, I have 1 page)…Bats: Noel Evans and Alan Resitar might be willing to provide a fairly good list of the animal kingdom b. BioBlitz. from Alan Resitar (herpetologist):  I’d love to participate but do not have the time now to revisit and analyze the BioBlitz animal data.  Dave Hamilla could do a nice overview of plant side of the BioBlitz.  Noel could also do a nice overview of the whole event from the standpoint of planning, organization, execution and participation.  Is Walt? interested in doing the BioBlitz chapter (at least the zoology aspects). Ask Dave Hamilla do the botanical side of the BioBlitz.

 

PART II: SOCIETY & CULTURE:
Engineering,     Law,     Sociology,     Political Science

11. Human Inhabitants by Kevin Breitzke (req) Phil Doolittle forwarded historical photos to Kevin.
a. Native Americans b. Early Settlers c. Inter-Urban Line d. Recent Development
12. Literature? poetry? Art: photos or paintings of the lakes region?
13. Recreational Uses by Kevin Breitzke & Phil Doolittle
14. Ecosystem Management by VCW Steering Committee (Problems associated with E. coli, invasive plants and animals, and problems associated with human development will each be addressed in their respective chapters). Sewers: Phil Doolittle might be a good one to provide background on septic and sanitary sewer issues Aquatic Invasives ….
15. Water Quality: Bryant S. Mitol (Hoosier Riverwatch) bmitol@yahoo.com
16. Goals and Objectives