With the July 4th weekend here, people will be at Northwoods boat landings hoping to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species and provide some education. A cooperative arrangement between agencies and local groups has resulted in the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program, now in its 15th year.
Erin McFarlane is the statewide program educator with the UW-Extension Lakes Program.
She says the workers engage in a conversation with boaters to stop the spread of invasives...
"We have some main AIS prevention steps that we know are very effective. The watercraft inspectors share these steps with(boaters), and also help boaters and anglers to check their boats for any attached aquatic invasive species and remind them of the prevention steps and regulations we have in the state..."
Surveys show that most boaters perform these actions nearly every time they are on the water. McFarlane says if staff are not at a launch, boaters can support each other by modeling good prevention behavior. She says the proof of the effort is water that isn't infested...
"Where we get our effectiveness information is just that we are not seeing an increase in spread of these species across the state like we normally would. People are trying to do their part by trying to remove plants and animals from their boats..."
She says Eurasian water milfoil continues to be a main challenge along with curly-leaf pondweed.
McFarlane says zebra mussels and spiny water fleas are not common on the inland waters but are present. She says the invasives can grow and alter an ecosystem quickly as they don't have natural predators to control them.
There are a number of rules to keep the invaders out. We have a link to more information here.
