The record lake elevation of 2019 left us with a lot of repairs to
perform. Many of them were completed in 2019 in order to re-open
most of the campsites. There are still several repairs to be made
with erosion issues that will take additional time. All parks have had
some changes in the reservable and usable campsites, sites that
are seldom used have been removed, and are no longer available,
others have been changed to non reservable.
All Park Attendant and Park Custodian contracts will be new in
2020, some minor changes from previous years are; Attendants
sure to check the board at the entrance station to ascertain what the
With fewer and fewer people utilizing non-electric campsites the
Pomme de Terre Project is working to provide electrical service to
more campsites. The Eastern most loop, or “Boat Ramp Loop” at
Nemo Park is being renovated and will become a reservable group
camp with 12 electric and water sites and a picnic shelter. The area
will rent for a single fee of $200 per night, and will be closed to other
uses. Additional work planned for Recreation Areas: Nemo Park -
addition of electrical Service to the Bridge Loop. Outlet Park –
addition of electrical service to sites 8-14. This work will be
completed as time and funding allow.
We are also in the process of attempting to replace the Admin
extends further into the lake, replacing the uncovered dock at
Damsite Park in the near future. Pittsburg Landing will begin its
second year with pay to camp sites, 2019 saw approximately half
of the park unusable due to high lake levels. The Swim Beach fee
season has changed, the dates are now April 16 – Sept 30, and you
may well see replacement of some of the wooden tables on lower
elevation campsites and shelters with concrete tables to prevent
loss during high lake elevations.
The shelters at the Nemo & Wheatland Swim beaches,
Pittsburg, and Bolivar will be reservable
You may have noticed a large
number of trees being removed
from the campgrounds this
winter. Over 400 trees in the
parks were killed by the long
inundation of lake waters during
the growing season. These
hazardous trees are being removed
to prevent possible damage and
injuries during the busy recreation
season.
The playground at the Overlook #2
Shelter is planned for replacement,
along with Wheatland and Outlet
Parks, depending upon cost and available
funding.
The Shoreline Management Program will continue to be a major
work load in 2020. The changes in the administration of the program
is an evolving process to determine the best way to manage the
encroachments onto public lands by private landowners. Reminder
Currently, there is a contractor clearing approximately 26 miles of
boundary in Polk County. They will complete by the end of March
2020. The Pomme de Terre Project budgets for clearing of
approximately 20 to 30 miles of boundary each year, if funding is
available. The boundary clearing contract helps to provide a clear
encroachments. Park Rangers will perform monitoring and
surveillance on the Project Boundary line to identify encroachments,
and then work to resolve those that are found through issuance of
Violation Notices and coordination with State and/or County
departments or other means as necessary.
2019 was a tough year for most of the Natural Resource Program.
Lots of rain and high lake levels negated most of the planned work
in food plots and resource areas. We are planning to address many
of those issues in 2020 through prescribed burns, work completed
Attractor Program, during which approximately 200 cedar trees will
2020 will be targeted in the vicinity of L7 on the Lindley Arm and P3
can be found at https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.
html?id=aa720aaaf06b49269b355b5a6e049d28 or as PDF maps
at
attractor-pdfmaps. These maps are provided and
updated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Emerald Ash Borers have been found in trees in the
campgrounds at Pomme de Terre Lake. The insects
cause damage that leads to the death of those trees.
There is no treatment or preventative measures
available. Trees that begin to show signs of decline
the US Department of Agriculture on the release
of parasitic wasps in an attempt to limit the
amount of damage caused by the Emerald Ash
Borers.
replace trees that have been removed or expected to
fall victim to Emerald Ash Borers with species that are
more tolerant of inundation by lake waters and are not
View of the Pomme de Terre Lake
and control tower while the lake
was being constructed. (Photo
credit: KC District of the Army
Corps of Engineers, as seen on
www.nwk.usace.army.mil/)