Lake Captain Training and AIS Tour

Become a part of the Citizen Lake Monitoring Network!
Lake Captain Training and AIS Tour
June 10, 9- 11:30 am

Are you interested in monitoring what’s happening to the health of your lake? We are looking for volunteer ‘lake captains and deck hands’ to monitor water clarity, water chemistry, aquatic plants, and aquatic invasive species in area waters. Since 1986, volunteers statewide have provided data to biologists on what is happening on their lakes, providing essential data that is necessary to make decisions to protect the health of lakes.

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are invading northwoods waters and costs of controlling these species are increasing every year. In 2010, Vilas County spent over $600,000 to control invasive species. Early detection is essential to preventing invasives from spreading throughout your lake system as it is much more cost effective and easier to target new infestations before the species become established. We need your help in identifying where infestations occur in the area so that we can ‘nip them in the bud’!

On June 10, you can learn how to become a ‘lake captain or ship hand’, monitor the health of your lake, and conduct aquatic invasive species surveys. As part of this training, we will travel by boat to purple loosestrife and curly leafed pondweed infestations. We will provide an array of tools and resources for free or loan to interested volunteers.