This article was featured in the 2024 winter newsletter by, Brittney Rogers-SLELO PRISM.
Watercraft Inspection Steward Program:
Our 2023 Watercraft Inspection Steward Program co-administered with TILT, concluded on October 28, and was yet another successful season engaging the public about AIS issues. This year stewards conducted inspections on over 10,800 vessels and intercepted 1,452 while educating nearly 25,000 people on the importance of Clean-Drain-Dry practices to prevent or slow the spread of AIS. View the final report and launch profiles on our website.
Over the past four years, SLELO PRISM WISP staff were able to conduct over 41,600 watercraft inspections, where they intercepted over 4,320 AIS on boating and fishing equipment. Our stewards also interacted with over 100,000 visitors! While looking ahead to the next 5 years, we will not be hosting the program any longer, we are excited to collaborate with the new WISP team and look forward to seeing all they can do to further expand and enhance this important program.
Aquatic Early Detection Update:
In the summer of 2023, we surveyed 9 aquatic PCAs, and although we detected Tier 3 and 4 species at some of these sites, no Tier 1-2 species were detected! Field reports for the 2024 season will be available on our website.
With our next 5-year contract we are excited to “shake things up” a bit and will be adjusting our current survey efforts and adding multiple new sites focused on our new Connected Lands and Waters Initiative.
Through this initiative, we’re looking for new sites in CLAW areas for medium-large scale restoration work to occur in 2025-2026. Visit our website for more information on our past restoration efforts, and reach out to team SLELO to get more details.
More Updates:
Kicking off 2024, Brittney presented at the Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society’s Annual Conference, and Save the River’s Annual Winter Conference to over 300 people, to share the aquatic and riparian work happening across SLELO PRISM!
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