Seaplane Pilots Testing Invasive Species Education

/ Published in invasive species
Seaplane at Dock
Pacific Northwest seaplane pilots have pioneered a program that would allow pilots to perform their own invasive species inspections prior to landing in another state’s waters rather than requiring state or federal inspectors to perform the examination. Participants watch an educational video, take an accompanying quiz, and pocket a completion certificate. The course describes how

Use of Herbicide to Combat Eurasian Milfoil Draws Criticism

/ Published in milfoil
Pewaukee Lake Aquatic Plant Management
Lake Shawnee has been identified time and again as one of the most idyllic locations in Shawnee County, Kansas, leading county commissioners to invest heavily in the area in recent years with new walking paths and other features. But maintaining that beauty, and more importantly, what’s under the water, can be challenging and at times

Native Species or Invasive? The Distinction Blurs as the World Warms

/ Published in climate change
Aquatic Weeds Clogging Irrigation Canal
Across the warming globe, a mass exodus of tens of thousands of species is transforming the distribution of biodiversity — and challenging fundamental tenets in conservation policy and science. In recent years, scientists have documented countless species shifting their ranges toward the poles, higher into the mountains, and deeper into the seas in response to

Starry Stonewort Battle Could Switch to Hand-to-Hand Combat

/ Published in Uncategorized
Aquatic Invasive Species Starry Stonewort
Heidi Bunk, a water resources management specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said while the long-term effectiveness of hand pulling the invasive species starry stonewort is still being evaluated, it can be advantageous because it allows for the removal of starry stonewort without harming native species in the way chemical treatments might. She

Army Corps to Protect Great Lakes from Asian Carp

/ Published in News
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking some innovative, and perhaps unusual, steps to keep Asian carp (the silver and bighead carp in particular) from infesting the Great Lakes. In the next several years several layers of protection will be used to thwart the arrival of the carp by way of the Chicago-area rivers

Invasive Species and Marine Debris

/ Published in Uncategorized
Natural and man made debris floating on the waters surface
West Coast beachcombers have treasured the rare sightings of Japanese glass floats; spherical buoys strung together to aid fishermen in managing their catch. It was once thought that these translucent orbs took nearly a decade to reach the U.S.–traveling up to 8,000 miles of open sea. But in 2011, 5 million tons of debris was

Intensifying Hurricanes are Helping Invasive Species Spread Across the U.S.

/ Published in invasive species
Aquatic Invasive Species Eurasian Watermilfoil
New research has found that hurricanes in the United States are dispersing invasive species across the country. Fueled by climate change, hurricanes are becoming more frequent and intense, research shows; as a result, extreme storms are carrying and scattering hundreds of invasive species such as Asian swamp eels and zebra mussels into new regions of

Lake Iroquois Milfoil Treatment Unlikely This Year

/ Published in milfoil, Uncategorized
Aquatic Invasive Species Eurasian Watermilfoil
An herbicide treatment of Lake Iroquois in Chittenden County, Vermont, isn’t likely to occur this year because the state received so many public comments that it will not have time to respond before the window has passed in which the first treatment must occur. Although representatives from the state say the herbicide won’t unduly harm

Asian Carp have the Potential to Devastate the Great Lakes

/ Published in Uncategorized
Asian Carp Jumping out of the Water
The Great Lakes are worth an estimated $13 billion annually, said Jill Thatcher, communications coordinator for the Invasvie Species Centre in a release. “Asian carp have the potential to devastate the Great Lakes ecologically and economically if they were to establish. They grow very large very quickly with huge appetites to match and would easily

Chemical Treatment For Aquatic Invasive Species May Hurt Native Lake Plants

/ Published in Uncategorized
Chemical Treatment of Lake
Lake managers might be hurting native aquatic plants – instead of helping them – when they use chemicals to control invasive plants on entire lakes. New research by Wisconsin DNR Lakes and River Team Leader Dr. Alison Mikulyuk shows native plant communities can struggle when chemicals are used to target invasive Eurasian watermilfoil. It appears