The story describes the battle against invasives as just that - a war. It details some of the methods that are used to combat the weeds, bugs, and other critters and green things that aren't native to Maine lakes - and that are taking over in some places. A key weapon in the battle is volunteer monitoring and education efforts that help boaters understand why they need to check their boats before launching. Just a small piece of some invasive plants can infest an entire lake. Says a DEP environmental specialist quoted in the piece,
"It's not a huge stretch of the imagination to assume someone came in with that on a boat prop or attached to a trailer," Gregory said. "It's incredibly easy for that to happen."
This year the front line is a lake in the Belgrade Lakes - MLCI's new
neighborhood. The story of that pond's 'last resort' treatment is detailed
in the story. It's definitely worth a read.
Pontoons from float planes could conceivably have a slip of milfoil, something awful that flies in to a lake from puddle jumping aircraft. Lakes hate lawns, improperty roadways, want vegetative buffers, plunge pools to slow the racing water to free it of nutrients, silt, soil erosion, contaminants.
ReplyDelete