Progress — 2014
Page 43
Vilas County groups on forefront
of battle against invasive species
___________
BY TED RITTER
VILAS COUNTY INVASIVE SPECIES COORDINATOR
___________
Vilas County continues to battle invasive species — both aquatic and terrestrial — with a strategy that includes early detection, proper management and public awareness.
While aquatic invasive species have
been on the forefront of this war due to
their aggressive nature on many North
Woods lakes, terrestrial invasives also
are causing environmental harm to the
landscape.
The offensive against invasives
takes teamwork involving county and
town leaders, water-management professionals, volunteers, lake groups, and
state and federal agencies.
Early detection efforts
When it comes to aquatic invasive
species, Smoky Lake in Phelps was
added to the list of Vilas County lakes
with known Eurasian water milfoil
(EWM) populations.
While most of Smoky Lake is in
Michigan, the EWM was found near
the Highway 17 boat landing on the
Wisconsin end of the lake.
A EWM population also was confirmed this fall in Lost Lake in St. Germain following an unconfirmed finding
in 2007. Both the Smoky and Lost
Lake populations were reported by
lake residents.
Rapid response funding for both
lakes has been made available by the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and control programs
will be launched in May of 2014.
An established population of spiny
water fleas was confirmed this past
year in Star Lake in the town of Plum
Lake. This was the first local expansion of this species since being discovered in Stormy Lake in Conover in
2007.
Although present in all of the Great
Lakes, little is known about the effects
of spiny water fleas on inland lakes.
This species is quite difficult to detect,
in addition to being tiny and nearly
transparent, its densities within a given lake fluctuate significantly with
changes in environmental conditions
such as water temperature.
The Star Lake population was detected by a DNR monitoring team who
reported them as “abundant,” suggesting this species has been in Star Lake
for several years. Spiny water fleas are
one of several species justifying the
Wisconsin law requiring boaters to
drain bilges, live wells and other equipment areas between lake visits.
Highways are known vectors for the spread of terrestrial invasive weeds. Once established along roadsides, their migration continues across adjacent lands.
—Contributed Photo
Boat inspections vital
Many Vilas County lake organizations took advantage of a new DNR
grant program announced in the fall of
2012. The streamlined grant process
provides quick and easy reimbursement
of 75% of expenses associated with hiring people to work at boat landings, inspecting boats and educating boaters
about preventing the spread of aquatic
invasive species.
The grant funding came at a time
when sustaining the Clean Boats Clean Waters program with volunteers
had become impossible for many lake organizations.
As a result of the new grants, an impressive boat landing presence was
achieved in Vilas County this past summer. Nearly 28,000 boaters were contacted and more than 13,000 boats were
inspected during the course of 8,661
hours logged at landings.
These figures represent 12% of the
statewide effort for the season and 19%
within the 18-county Northern Region.
Early indications for 2014 suggest that
efforts to stop the spread of aquatic invasives via this inspection and education
program will be equally impressive.
The new invaders
Monitoring for the presence of invasive plants beyond submerged lake
plants will take on a higher emphasis in
2014 as new invaders are beginning to
show up along shorelines and in wetlands.
Plants such as non-native phragmites, garden loosestrife and yellow iris,
in addition to purple loosestrife, which
has been around for many years already,
have begun showing up in the area.
Each species presents its own challenges in identification and management and will sometimes become established above water lines, meaning they
may be growing on privately-owned
lands.
As with many invasive plants, people
typically regard these species as attractive and desirable, especially in the early stages of invasion. Public outreach
explaining why these plants are environmentally or economically harmful
will be an important aspect of preventing them from doing the damage they
are capable of.
The terrestrial invasives
The Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives
Partnership (WHIP), a multi-agency cooperative serving Vilas and Oneida
counties, achieved some significant
goals this past year — demonstrating
the effectiveness of creative partnering.
Roadside invasive plant surveys were
completed along all Vilas and Oneida
county highways during the summers of
2012 and 2013 thanks to funding provide by Lumberjack Resource Conservation &