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Invasive Species Identification Training

2010 progress on hand harvesting

Our Volunteers

Luc Aalmans
Bob Aldunate
Barbara Blum
Bryan Bourque
Jean Bourque
Daniel Brennan
Wayne Butler
Matthew Caunter
Jeff Clark
Jack DeGregorio
Janet Early
Cheryl Engelbrecht
Joanne Esposito
Thomas Fisk
Cecilia Fitzpatrick
Irv Freedman
Gail Frenz
Gary Frenz
Nelson Gillespie
Lloyd & Joyce Greenidge
Jack Hagerty
Jeanne Hagerty
Eric Hesse
Brandon Himoff
David Iasevoli
Greg Jackson
Laurie Jackson
Jim Keilman
Kathi Keilman
Melanie Kennedy
Dave King
Mary King
Bob & Suzanne Klein
Oblo & Sue Lange
Harvey Leidy
Herta Leidy
Jane Lewit
Marc Lustick
Bette Lynch
Jessica Lynch
Matt Lynch
Terry Lynch
Cheryl McNierney
Christian McNierney
Dave McNierney
Angie Mead
Elna Meader
Karen Meltzer
Karen Meltzer
Joe Millington
Elizabeth Morgan
Alex Nuwer
Mary Paladin
Doug Paton
Glen Purcell
Stanley Rusak
Barbara Salander
Jeffrey Schanzer
Douglas Schultz
Michael Schultz
Carolyn Schumann
Tricia Shimer
Jim Sidford
A.J. Szilagyi
Heather Szilagyi
I. Szilagyi
Jerry Szilagyi
Jim Ventura
Heather Walters
John Walters
Madeline Walters
Beth Wells
Jayne Wynne
Tom Wynne

83 Volunteers!

Brant Lake is located in the southeastern region of the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. The lake is currently facing a very serious problem; the invasion by a non-native aquatic plant called Eurasion Milfoil. The purpose of this website is provide education about the problem and to coordinate volunteer efforts in fighting the invasion.

The Problem

Eurasian Milfoil grows quickly in spring, creating a dense leaf canopy that shades out native aquatic plants. These dense milfoil beds:

• Inhibit recreational uses like swimming, boating, and fishing.
• Disrupt predator-prey relationships by fencing out larger fish, and thus reducing the growth of these sought-after "lunkers".
• Crowd out more nutrient-rich native plants that waterfowl and other native aquatic species depend on.

These problems reduce the enjoyment of the lake, and can impact property values.

The picture to the left was taken at nearby Hadlock Pond in September 2009. We do not want this to happen to Brant Lake.

What Is Being Done?

Volunteers from the Brant Lake Association along with community members are donating time and money to fight the problem. Explore this website to find details on these efforts.

Volunteers Are Needed For:

• Mat construction. This involves rolling out large sheets of plastic, punching holes, and inserting steel rods to hold the mats in position on the lake bottom. The mats are then rolled up, ready to be transported and placed on the lake bottom. No skills are required other than enthusiasm.
• Mat transportation. A platform boat and skipper are needed to transport the mats to the targeted location on the lake bottom.
• Shuttle operations. A second power boat and skipper is needed to perform a variety of support functions.
• Diving. Certified scuba divers are needed to unroll and position the mats on the lake bottom.
• Fragmentation control.While the mats are being placed or milfoil is being hand-harvested, milfoil fragments break off, float to the surface, and go wherever the wind and currents takes them to possibly start new beds. The job of the surface crew, in canoes and kayaks, is to gather the fragments using nets and transport them to shore for disposal.

Sign Up Now!

To join our group of volunteers and be placed on our email list, click here. Once you have joined, you will receive notices of work projects and dates. Alternatively, you may view currently scheduled work days and sign up for specific efforts by clicking on the link below.

View upcoming work days

Reporting a Milfoil Bed: Milfoil readily propagates by fragmentation, and new beds are discovered yearly. They cannot be removed until they are identified and cataloged in our database. If you discover a bed, read how to report it for investigation.

Another important component of our effort is the Head-a-Bed program, where volunteers sign up to periodically monitor and report on the status of a particular milfoil bed. Details are here.

Administrative functions (restricted use!)