It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night, 2018, and a small group is gathered inside the Scandia Pizzeria to hear their neighbor Tom Furey talk about water quality in Bone Lake. In 2006, Bone Lake was considered one of the worst lakes in Washington County. The water was murky and filled with algae, phosphorus levels were high, and the Metropolitan Council gave the lake an F on its annual report card.
By the time Furey moved to Bone Lake in 2016, water quality was already beginning to improve, thanks to efforts led by the Bone Lake Association, Comfort Lake – Forest Lake Watershed District (CLFLWD), and Washington Conservation District (WCD). It was clear to Furey, however, that local residents would need to get involved and dedicate their time and energy to fully restore the lake to good health.
Armed with a CLFLWD cost-share grant and landscape design support from the WCD, Furey began to replace lawn with native plants along his Bone Lake shoreline. He also enrolled in a volunteer program called Minnesota Water Stewards that trains and empowers volunteers to work on water issues in their communities. As a Water Steward, Furey learned about watersheds, stormwater management, water policy, strategies for engaging friends and neighbors, and landscaping practices to reduce runoff pollution in urban and rural settings. He planned events with the lake association, guided other lakeshore residents in how to use the Minnesota DNR’s “Score your Shore” tool, and helped a neighbor to restore native habitat on her shoreline as well.
“Participating in the Water Steward program was exciting and it made me feel empowered,” says Furey, who went on to join the CLFLWD citizen advisory committee in 2018, and become president of the Bone Lake Association in 2024.
Furey’s biggest undertaking, however, was motivated by a tornado that tore through Scandia on July 28, 2019. In the aftermath of the storm, Furey was dismayed to see how many trees were toppled near Bone Lake. “I knew that the loss of trees would not only change the appearance of our community, but also affect the quality of the water flowing into Bone Lake,” he said. “Many of these trees were next to the lake and needed to be replaced with healthy deep-rooted trees and shrubs that would stabilize the shoreline and provide beneficial filtration.”
Furey was eventually able to secure grant funds from the WCD, via Northwoods and Waters of the St. Croix Heritage Area, to build a gravel bed tree nursery behind the Scandia Fire Hall. With help from local volunteers and AmeriCorps staff at the WCD, he has since grown and distributed 50 trees in 2023 and 85 in 2024. For the coming year, Furey is working to develop a website for the program and cultivate an array of species that can be used by the community for ash tree replacement.
As for Bone Lake, water quality has continued to improve. Its F grade has climbed to a B+ and the lake was officially “de-listed” by the State of Minnesota in 2024.
In recognition of his many years of volunteer efforts tending trees and water on the edge of the Northwoods, Tom Furey was selected as the Washington County Conservation Cooperator of the year for 2024. He also received a Watershed Champion award from the CLFLWD at their 25th Anniversary celebration in September.
“It’s really exciting to delist the lake and we’ll keep doing what we need to do to improve water quality,” Furey says. “Looking toward the future, it will be important to continue working with shoreline owners to build healthy habitat. We want Bone Lake to be a destination, not necessarily for fishermen, but definitely for fish.”
East Metro Water 