The Higgins Lake Swimmer’s Itch Organization (HLSIO) is already on its way to a Happy New
Year. Early in January we received word that the suspension of our highly successful common
merganser duck relocation program has ended. In the summer of 2024, we will once again be
able to remove any broods of merganser ducks and relocate them to areas where
the Stagnicola snails are not present.
The system of removing broods of merganser ducks was implemented in 2015 and has greatly
reduced the incident of Swimmer’s Itch on Higgins Lake. The program had been suspended by
the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the last two years due to concerns about the
spread of Avian Flu. Although there is still evidence of the flu in bird populations, the DNR no
longer considers it to be reason enough to stop our program from moving a relatively small
number of wild birds from one wild bird location to another wild bird location. Additionally,
merganser duck behavior is typically not conducive to spreading the disease to other birds.
The HLSIO Board meets year-round in order to work on issues to keep Higgins Lake as free for
Swimmer’s Itch as possible. This news gives us a jump start to our plans for the summer of
2024.