Become an Environmental Steward

Spread Prevention

Interested in starting a boat steward program on your lake?

Boat stewards work at public launches in the summer months to help educate boaters on the threats aquatic invasive species pose to our waterways. They also inspect boats upon launch and retrieval for any visible aquatic invasive species. Check out the NYS Watercraft Inspection Steward Program Handbook and contact us for help getting started.

Always remember to Clean, Drain, and Dry your boat between launches into different waterbodies.

Launch Sites 2019 Watercraft Stewards

Surveying

Have a group of people interested in learning how to identify aquatic plants? Contact us to set up a workshop on identification basics, invasive aquatic plants and animals, and their native look-alikes. Workshops can include a paddle around the lake for practice. Be sure to check out our collection of scientific keys and field guides for help identifying organisms on your own.

What is this contraption?

Lake managers use this tool to perform 'rake tosses' to survey aquatic plants from a boat or shore. We simply throw it out into the water, drag it along the bottom, and identify the plants pulled up and how abundant they are in that spot. The rake toss shown is simply the heads of two metal rakes welded together with rope attached (at least 10 meters long).

Monitoring plants in your lake every year and throughout the summer season is an important tool for detecting invasive species before they become too established for eradication.

Ask members of your lake association if anyone has old garden rakes lying around. Don't have welding available? Try hose clamps!