Lake Bancroft Fundraising

We have a follow–up report for you on a story we first brought you in December.

Ishpeming residents are trying to restore the beauty of one of the city’s natural features.

Lake Bancroft has been filling in with organic sediment since the 1930s, when the only stream leading into it was blocked off.

Civil engineer Carr Baldwin from the Lake Bancroft Committee says this isn’t unusual — anytime you go for a walk in the woods in the U.P. and you find a damp bog, it used to be a lake.

Dredging would be too costly.

But if the Lake Bancroft Committee can raise about $5,000, it can order pumps that send a food–grade chemical compound into the water.

The compound will bind with the sediment, which then settles on the lake bottom.

The group says no donation would be too small.

Maureen LaWent says if the group obtained a $1 donation from every person in Ishpeming, they’d be able to buy the pumps and start the restoration project now.

The committee is also obtaining donations from corporate neighbors like Cliffs Natural Resources, UPPCO and Kennecott Eagle Minerals.

But Baldwin says much of that money won’t come in until next year.

LaWent also says if residents living near the lake avoid dumping yard waste into it, that would also be a big help.

If the lake is rejuvenated, its west end would even be re–stocked with fish, giving Ishpeming’s natural jewel some new shine.

The Lake Bancroft Committee meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 5 pm.

The meetings are in the Engineering Consultants building on South Pine Street in Ishpeming, and the public is welcome to attend.

If you want to make a donation by check, the group is asking that you write ‘Lake Bancroft Special Fund’ on the memo line of the check.

Donations can be either mailed to Ishpeming City Hall or dropped off there in person.

Posted by: Mike Hoey