Road
Adventurist
Continuing PSAs from the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFTC)
I'm including an informative poster, below, worth reading and then spreading around to other paddlers and boaters.
If you've ever seen how choked some ponds and lakes get with an invasive species like non-native Milfoils--often introduced from watercraft going from one body of water to another without being properly cleaned--you'll know it can quickly take over an entire lake, literally choking out other plant and animal life.
Invasive Milfoil can propagate from fragmentation. This means that when a propeller, kayak paddle, or even a fishing lure is dragged through and disturbs a cluster of invasive Milfoil, each fragment broken off is capable of forming an entire new plant. In lakes I frequent, divers go down, locate, and set buoys marking locations of invasive species. Then state-certified removal divers come to remove it. It's an ongoing and endless endeavor.
Same happens with other non-native plants and animals, from Zebra Mussels to predatory fish, to pathogens.
The health of waterways is just as important as hiking, vehicle trails, and back country roads.
Here's more from the USDA: What Are Invasive Species?
It's important to understand how easily we can unknowingly spread invasive species and how easy it is to help stop the spread:
.
I'm including an informative poster, below, worth reading and then spreading around to other paddlers and boaters.
If you've ever seen how choked some ponds and lakes get with an invasive species like non-native Milfoils--often introduced from watercraft going from one body of water to another without being properly cleaned--you'll know it can quickly take over an entire lake, literally choking out other plant and animal life.
Invasive Milfoil can propagate from fragmentation. This means that when a propeller, kayak paddle, or even a fishing lure is dragged through and disturbs a cluster of invasive Milfoil, each fragment broken off is capable of forming an entire new plant. In lakes I frequent, divers go down, locate, and set buoys marking locations of invasive species. Then state-certified removal divers come to remove it. It's an ongoing and endless endeavor.
Same happens with other non-native plants and animals, from Zebra Mussels to predatory fish, to pathogens.
The health of waterways is just as important as hiking, vehicle trails, and back country roads.
Here's more from the USDA: What Are Invasive Species?
It's important to understand how easily we can unknowingly spread invasive species and how easy it is to help stop the spread:
.
