Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program depends on citizens to take an active roll in patrolling our lakes for invasive aquatic plants. Wilson Lake now has its own Invasive Plant Patrol with a strong group of interested folks who are taking time from their busy lake schedules to become trained through VLMP or from participation with our team. On June 23, a training will be offered in East Waterboro and is an opportunity for folks new to this activity to receive expert training, or for those of us who have already participated to refresh our skills. I encourage anyone who cares about protecting our lake from these invasive “monstrous” plants to take part. It is free, it is interesting and it is critical to Wilson Lake. Here is the information regarding this program:
Save the Date to Protect Your Lake – or River –
from Invasive Aquatic Species!
ME VLMP Invasive Plant Patrol Introductory Workshop
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 – 9:30 AM -3:30 PM – Massabesic Middle School, Waterboro, ME
On Tuesday, June 23rd join us for a workshop led by staff from Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program (VLMP) to learn about how you can help prevent an invasive aquatic plant infestation in your lake or river. This Introductory Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) workshop – to be held at the Massabesic Middle School in East Waterboro, ME – will give you an overview of invasive species issues in Maine and York County, teach you the basics to identify the plants using live invasive and native aquatic plant samples and provide you with the basic skills needed to conduct a screening survey on your waterbody. All workshop participants will receive a VLMP Invasive Plant Patroller’s Handbook, Maine’s Field Guide to Invasive Aquatic Plants and the newly created version of VLMP’s Quick Key.
Registration is required to attend this workshop. For more information and to register you can visit this link at the VLMP website – http://www.mainevlmp.org/invasive-plant-patrol-workshops/– go to the Introduction to IPP and then click on registration page. You can also contact Maine VLMP at vlmp@mainevlmp.org or 207-783-7733. Once you register VLMP will provide you with more details about the workshop location and other information. Please bring a lunch with you to this workshop on June 23rd – beverages and snacks for breaks will be provided.
This free workshop is being co-hosted by York County Invasive Aquatic Species Project (YCIASP), YCSWCD and several York County lake associations.
Here are some details about the VLMP Introductory Invasive Plant Patrol workshop:
The primary goal of this comprehensive, 6-hour workshop is to provide those who wish to join Maine’s early detection effort with information and guidance needed to get started.
All Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) workshop sessions are open to the public and FREE to anyone interested in learning more about the threat of invasive aquatic plants in Maine. All workshop participants receive the 2015 Invasive Plant Patroller’s Handbook and the updated, “newly-available-in-2015” Maine’s Field Guide to Invasive Aquatic Plants and Quick Key.
The workshop is presented by VLMP staff in four parts:
- Overview of invasive species issues in Maine and beyond
- Aquatic plants: plant communities, identification fundamentals, ID characteristics of Maine’s most unwanted and their native look-alikes.
- Plant identification hands-on exercise with live plants (native and invasive species)
- Instruction to conduct a screening survey: tools, techniques and documentation
WLA is a co-host of this training and I look forward to seeing some of you there.
Jeanne