Water Quality
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Moosehead Lake Pilot…
Continuing Full Steam Ahead!
If an aquatic invader such as Eurasian milfoil finds its way into Moosehead Lake, is it likely that somebody will find the intruder BEFORE it becomes irreversibly established there?
In 2008, the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (VLMP) launched an ambitious pilot initiative on Moosehead Lake to help ensure that the answer to this question is an emphatic “Yes!” Year two of the initiative is now underway. In the short term, the goal of the pilot initiative (dubbed Invasive Plant Patrol “Jump-Start”) is to organize and conduct a screening survey of all shallow, off-shore areas of the lake, to rule out the presence of harmful aquatic invaders. Ultimately, however, the goal is to create an ongoing, locally-sustainable, citizen-based monitoring program capable of detecting problem species as soon as possible after introduction, before they grow out of control.
Since the inception of the VLMP’s Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) program in 2001, nearly 2000 individuals have been trained to monitor Maine waters for the presence of aquatic invaders. Roughly 2/3 of all invasive aquatic species monitoring currently taking place in the state is now done by trained volunteers. Despite this progress, significant gaps in Maine’s early detection system remain. Survey activity on some of Maine’s most exceptional lakes, for example, remains sparse to non-existent.
IPP Jump-Start provides a novel approach to addressing this gap. The core of the program is the annual formation and coordination of the IPP Jump-Start team, comprised of novice patrollers and other members of the target community who will work and learn directly along side of VLMP staff, seasoned IPP volunteers, state agency personnel, and other professionals. During a weeklong survey “blitz,” the team conducts an invasive aquatic plant screening survey as well as a baseline native aquatic plant inventory on the waters of concern.
While they are based in the area, team members engage in one-on-one educational outreach, informational meetings, local events, communication with community leaders and the local press, etc. to raise awareness of the project, and more broadly, the threat of invasive aquatic species in Maine. IPP training is offered to local community members, and workshop attendees are invited to test out their new skills by participating in one or more days of the survey.
The VLMP kicked off the Moosehead Jump-Start pilot initiative last summer, with a major grant from The Betterment Fund. Just recently, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund Board voted unanimously to provide the additional funding needed to move the pilot forward.
Year One of the Moosehead pilot produced an array of notable accomplishments:
• It brought together a remarkable coalition of project partners, including Maine’s natural resource agencies, non-profit organizations, Moosehead region businesses, community leaders, residents and visitors, seasoned and novice volunteers, and more.
• All offshore areas capable of supporting aquatic plant growth of nearly half of the expansive (74, 890 acre) lake were surveyed. (The focus of 2008 was on the southern half of the lake. 2009 will cover the more northerly portions.) No invasive species were found.
• The survey included a native plant inventory. An inventory of this magnitude had never been attempted on Moosehead Lake. A total of 55 aquatic plant species were identified including five native milfoil species.
• The daily activity of the team in and around the lake generated a great deal of local interest, with a number of locals expressing eagerness to become more directly involved in the project.
And now we are off and running on Year Two! Goals for this year include:
• Training a cadre of new plant patrollers in the Moosehead region (An Introductory Invasive Plant Patrol workshop is scheduled for Saturday, August 15, 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM, at Beaver Cove Marina)
• Reassembling the Jump-Start team. (If you are a trained IPP, we need your help! Please consider joining the team for one day, several days, or for the entire week!)
• Finishing up the lake-wide survey (scheduled for the week beginning August 16)
• Doing whatever else must be done to help ensure a viable, locally-sustainable monitoring effort moving forward
What’s next? Plans are already underway to take IPP Jump-Start to the waters of another vulnerable region of the state in 2010. Right now, it looks like our next target region will be Acadia National Park. So please stay tuned!
For more on the Moosehead Lake Jump-Start initiative, please visit the VLMP’s on-line photo journal at www.MaineVolunteerLakeMonitors.org/photos/Moosehead. If you are interested in learning more about this initiative, (or better yet, jumping in with both feet!) please contact Roberta Hill, at mciap@mainevlmp.org.
Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program
vlmp@mainevlmp.org
24 Maple Hill Road, Auburn, ME 04210
(207) 783-7733
www.MaineVolunteerLakeMonitors.org
copyright 2010 Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program | website comments to: vlmp@mainevlmp.org
