2007 Hancock County Lake Survey Week

Tom Dunn, a volunteer Lake Surveyor and a Maine

seaplane pilot checks a local lake for aquatic invasive plants.  For information on how you can receive free training to become a trained lake surveyor contact the HCSWCD office.

4^th Annual Hancock County Lake Survey Week Was A Great Success!

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make the 4^th Annual Hancock County Lake Survey Week a success.  During this event, which took place August 20-26, over 50 volunteers helped to check public boat launches in Hancock County for invasive aquatic plants. 

Invasive aquatic plants, already present in 29 water bodies in Southern and Mid-Coastal Maine, spread rapidly and are impossible to remove once established.  They ruin the lake for boating, swimming, fishing and infestations can lead to reduced property values along the lake.  Heavy traffic areas, such as boat launches, tend to be the first location of aquatic invasive plant growth as plant fragments are accidentally spread from boat trailers, canoes, kayaks, etc. that have recently been in infested Maine lakes or out-of-state.  Early detection of these plants is the best defense against them, since once they are established, there is no eradication, only costly management.

            Special thanks goes out to Tom Dunn, a member of the Maine Seaplane Pilots Association, who helped transport volunteers to five lakes so that surveys there could be done.  We would also like to thank the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (VLMP) and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) who provide local Plant ID Workshops for the public and technical support.

            For more information on invasive aquatic plants or how you can become a volunteer, contact the Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation District at (207) 664-7496 or email megan.facciolo@me.nacdnet.net