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Winter 2010 Home Page
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President's Message
Lakeside Notes
Littorally Speaking
Welcome Aboard New Monitors
National Lakes Assessment
Algal Toxins
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By Roberta Hill, Program Director
VLMP's Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants
We have now heard the State of the State, and the State of the Union addresses… both quite sobering to say the least. Ready for some good news? Please read on! The State of Maine’s Invasive Aquatic Plant Early Detection System has never been better!
Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) Workshops
Despite the unrelenting persistence of the cool rainy weather, and widespread economic uncertainty that challenged most Mainers during the summer of 2009, the VLMP’s Invasive Plant Patrol program has just experienced one of the most exciting and productive seasons in the history of the IPP program.
Though the number of workshops was down a bit from previous years (two were utterly rained out), the number—and level of commitment—of attendees and was way up. Of the 307 individuals who attended one or more regular workshops in 2009, 107 became certified plant patrollers (roughly double the annual average), and 10 became certified members of Maine’s rapid response team. An additional 73 individuals (including 23 Maine teachers) participated in abbreviated IPP training sessions, bringing the total of number trained this year to 380. To date, the VLMP has trained over 2,000 individuals through the IPP program! Maine now has 361 active certified invasive plant patrollers, committed to annually surveying 152 lakes, and 62 individuals, primarily SCUBA divers, certified in rapid response.
The workshops once again spanned the state, from York to Aroostook County. We conducted 15 Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) workshops in 2009, including 11 introductory workshops, 1 survey methods workshop, and 2 abbreviated training sessions. Two distinct manual control workshops were also offered, one covering invasive aquatic plant control background and fundamentals, and providing instruction and practice in the use of manual removal and benthic barriers, the other providing training and practice in the use of the diver assisted suction harvester.
VLMP Invasive Plant Patroller Dick Butterfield
with a sample of hydrilla taken
from what is believed to be the pioneer
colony in Damariscotta Lake
In September, hydrilla (hydrilla verticillata) was confirmed in Damariscotta Lake. Hydrilla, often referred to as the “worst of the worst” invasive aquatic plant threatening aquatic ecosystems worldwide, was discovered in a small cove along the western shore of Damariscotta Lake, by VLMP Invasive Plant Patroller, Dick Butterfield. (Dick had been trained by the VLMP only weeks before.) VLMP assisted the DEP with the initial assessment of the infestation and also helped the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association (DLWA) organize an “emergency first responder” survey team. Twenty-seven trained invasive plant patrollers (many traveling from distant corners of the state) participated in the intense search that followed Dick’s discovery. Though the survey season ended before the team could cover the entire littoral zone of Damariscotta Lake, survey results to date provide hope that Mr. Butterfield may have indeed detected the pioneer colony.
The efforts of Dick Butterfield, DLWA, and the exceptional team of IPP “first responders” who dropped what they were doing to join the hunt for additional signs of the invader, present us with the most concrete evidence to date of the critical and invaluable role that IPP volunteers can (and do!) play in protecting the waters of Maine from the threat of aquatic invaders. A single early detection—a single lake saved from ecological catastrophe—provides the people of Maine with an enormous rate of return on any and all investments of time and resources that may have been put into this effort to date.
IPP First Responder Dennis Roberge surveys the shallows of Damariscotta Lake from dockside, while taking a well deserved break from the numbing fall water temperatures.
Invasive Aquatic Plant Screening Surveys
Not only are more and more individuals becoming trained to recognize an aquatic invader when they see it, more and more are becoming active IPPs in their communities, conducting, leading and organizing invasive aquatic plant (IAP) screening surveys on their local lakes, ponds and streams. The bulk of the 2009 IAP screening survey data has now been checked for quality assurance recorded and tabulated, and the results are quite astounding. Three-hundred-eighty-five IAP screening surveys were reported in 2009. Up from 252 surveys in 2008, this dramatic increase in reported survey activity over the course on one year is the greatest leap by far since the first IAP survey was reported in 2001. Twenty-seven new waterbodies were added to the list of “waterbodies reporting survey activity in 2009,” bringing the total number of Maine waterbodies with reported IAP survey activity to 406. (Fig. 1)
Figure 1
Maine Waterbodies With Reported
IAP Survey Activity (Cumulative)
Again, the critical role played by volunteers here, cannot be overstated. In 2009 a whopping 92% of all reported IAP survey activity can be directly attributed to IPP volunteers!
No matter how you slice the data, the message is undeniable… together we are making a huge difference! We have stepped up to the challenge, and have made great progress toward the goal protecting Maine waters from the threat of aquatic invaders. But our work is clearly not done; in fact we still have a very long road ahead of us. Maine is home to roughly 6000 lakes and ponds and thousands of miles of stream habitat. The number of infested lakes continues to grow; two more lakes were added to the list of infested lakes in 2009: Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson (hydrilla), and Legion Pond in Kittery (European naiad). If we are to succeed in establishing a highly effective prevention and early detection system in Maine, one that encompasses all vulnerable waters of the State, we have to train many, many more eyes to be on the lookout. With this (yes, I suppose somewhat sobering) thought in mind, we here at the VLMP have already started planning next season’s workshop schedule. It looks like we are going to be very busy once again, traveling from one end of this beautiful state to the other, and joining forces with some of its very finest citizens! We look forward to seeing all of you in 2010!
Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program
vlmp@mainevlmp.org
24 Maple Hill Road, Auburn, ME 04210
(207) 783-7733
www.MaineVolunteerLakeMonitors.org
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