Stewardship Program 2017 Final Report
Adirondack Watershed Institute
Eric Holmlund, Heather Coleates, Joshua Howard, Sue O’Reilly, Sean Regalado, Jeff Sann, & Jake Sporn
This report summarizes the data and program highlights for the 2017 field season of the Adirondack Watershed Institute’s (AWI) Stewardship Program of Paul Smith’s College (PSC) located in Paul Smiths, NY. In 2017, the AWI hired 119 watershed stewards stationed at 62 different boat launches and 16 decontamination stations throughout The Adirondack Park and beyond. This allowed the AWI to implement a landscape-scale, coordinated aquatic invasive species (AIS) spread prevention program. Boat inspection and decontamination programs managed and funded by cooperating lake associations placed 25 stewards at 9 additional locations, for a combined total of 144 stewards at 67 launches and 20 decontamination stations. Under a contract with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the AWI managed the New York State AIS Prevention Program, funded by an appropriation from New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund, for the third consecutive year. The AWI has stationed watershed stewards funded by a variety of agencies and foundations across the Adirondack Park since 2000.
AWI stewards educated 170,689 visitors about AIS issues and spread prevention techniques while inspecting 83,063 watercraft. Stewards discovered and removed 3,788 confirmed AIS, encompassing 3.8% of all watercraft inspected. Partner programs were operated independently at Brant Lake, Canada Lake, Caroga Decontamination Station, Loon Lake, Paradox Lake, Northern Schroon/Paradox Decontamination Station, Town of Horizon Decontamination Station, and Schroon Lake. With partner programs’ inspection figures included, total numbers for 2017 are 97,412 watercraft inspected, 202,766 people educated, 3,849 confirmed AIS removed from watercraft, and an overall watercraft AIS transport rate of 3.3%.
A comparative analysis of data from 67 AWI and partner program boat launches revealed variation in visitor reception to inspection, AIS transport rate, percentage of visitors taking AIS spread prevention measures, and types of watercraft launched. Visitors reported using their watercraft within the previous two weeks on over 620 different water bodies through the United States and Canada.
This report also includes summaries of steward outreach projects and research that took place during the 2017 field season. Steward projects include public education and outreach, community involvement, research projects, and projects surveying, managing and monitoring invasive species.
In 2017, funding for the AWI was provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lake Restoration Initiative (EPA GLRI), the New York State Environmental Protection Fund, the Upper Saranac Lake Foundation (USLF), the St. Regis Foundation, the Lake Placid Shore Owners’ Association (LPSOA), the Rainbow Lake Association, the Great Sacandaga Lake Advisory Council, the Great Sacandaga Lake Association, the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), the Black Lake Association, the Towns of Marietta, Horizon, and Lake Pleasant, and Paul Smith’s College.
