I am a lake north of Brainerd. I contain lots of fish that humans like to catch and little children like to swim in me. I really can't flow where I used to because of ice ridges and where humans filled and made roads. So I'm not as large as I used to be. I have springs which help to keep me clean. There are a lot of humans living around my shores. They seem to be pretty nice and they keep my nice sand raked and groomed.
In 1905-1906 I was 2 feet only below the north bank ice ridge. In the 30s humans had to walk to find me. I think maybe rain and snow had a lot to do with it. So in 1907 the humans made me a ditch and even gave me a number. Number 13. I was so excited - lucky 13. How wonderful, now I wouldn't flood people out or pollute their land. Now I could get rid of my extra water and the humans could do what they call development. Because without my ditch there couldn't be any development. So they built homes and resorts around my shores.
So my ditch went to North Long Lake, Round, Gull and to the Mississippi. That's a long trip for me. I provided water along my ditch for the farms and livestock and gardens, which are no longer there. Then the humans gave me a weir. We used to have a wooden dam, which the humans liked much better.
Only once in a while now do the humans clean out my ditch. The beavers make dams in my ditch and sometimes the humans trap them. But I have trees across my ditch. I can't survive without my ditch. I can't flow like I'm supposed to. I do not want to flood humans' land or pollute. But I don't get enough help to keep my ditch open and clean so I can reach the Mississippi. I want the humans to please keep my ditch clean and have a nice stream for the wildlife to drink out of. I want to be proud of the ditch the humans made me. The county where I live will not help to keep me clean so I can get to the Mississippi. They don't care about me.
Roger Palmer and Carol Eggert
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