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Researchers have confirmed the presence of fishhook waterflea (Cercopagis pengoi) in Lake Champlain, bringing the known number of nonnative and aquatic invasive species in Lake Champlain to 51.
The discovery increases the likelihood of the invasive’s spread by recreationists into the Adirondack Park, which currently has at least 12 known aquatic invasive species in interior lakes where spiny waterflea has been spreading.
The fishhook waterflea is similar to the spiny waterflea, which was confirmed in Lake Champlain in 2014; they are both small crustaceans that are aggressive predators of zooplankton and are known to foul fishing lines. The Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario were the closest lakes known to host fishhook waterflea. Like the spiny waterflea, the fishhook waterflea likely arrived in Lake Champlain by hitchhiking over land on recreational boats, trailers, or equipment. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets (DAM) have confirmed that spotted lanternfly (SLF), an invasive pest from Asia, has been found in Albany and Yates counties.
It seemed like a good idea. Let’s start a silk industry in the United States. Silk is a valuable cloth in demand all over the world. And insects do the work. All we need to do is import some gypsy moths from France; then just sit back and wait for the money to roll in.
Years ago I read an author interview, and although I don’t recall her name, one of the images she raised has stayed with me. It’s not an exact quote, but she said something to the effect that writing ought to feel to an author as if they were water skiing behind their work, not towing it like a barge. In general, I find this to be the case. The hours or days of research which go into an article are hardly exhilarating, but the wave-jumping that comes after shrinking those pages of facts into 800 words makes it worth the effort.
The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has encouraged New York pool owners to participate in DEC’s annual Asian Longhorned Beetle Swimming Pool Survey during the month of August.
It’s a rare blessing to have a job I absolutely love, but it’s not all roses. Although some of it is, literally, roses. All too often it is my dubious honor to bring to public awareness a new invasive pest or disease, and history has not always been kind to the bearers of bad news.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program has released the 2018 State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report. The report, produced every three years, provides an assessment of the condition of Lake Champlain. The report also serves to provide the public and resource managers with a better understanding of threats to the lake’s health, as well as opportunities to meet the challenges ahead.
The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) has been awarded a five-year, $9.3 million contract by New York State to implement the Adirondack Park Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program.
The Blue Mountain Lake Island Stewards will have a new boat for the 2018 season thanks to the Blue Mountain Lake Fund. The old boat was notably leaky.
The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary by launching a new public awareness campaign focused on the simple steps Adirondack residents and visitors can take to prevent invasive species from spreading into the places they love.
The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Transportation (DOT) and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that beginning this weekend, boat stewards will be deployed at nearly 200 locations across the state as part of a collaborative program to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). 
AsRA’s River Steward, Nicole Pionteck, started her field season last weekend at the Ausable River Two-Fly Challenge. She was at the Whiteface Visitor’s Bureau with a Wader Wash Station, educating participants on invasive species spread prevention methods and encouraging the anglers to “Check, Clean, and Dry” their equipment before entering the water.
Janet Hayward Burnham, of Bethel, Vermont, was driving to the bank one day when she saw a tree on the side of the road that looked like it was covered in decorative webbing, “cans and cans” of it, as if for Halloween. However, it was June.
The big white birds paddling gracefully across a Massachusetts pond last November surprised me. I’d grown up in the town I was visiting and had never seen swans there, although my friend assured me they were resident birds. The only mute swans I’d seen before, years ago, were floating along the River Thames between Eton College and Windsor Castle.
The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets (DAM) has announced the release of the State’s draft Invasive Species Comprehensive Management Plan for public comment.
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