With Labor Day weekend here we are all thinking of Fall. Many families are already taking boats, docks, lifts, and other toys out of the water. Here are some items to remember:
- If you hire a lake service
provider (LSP) to take out your docks, lifts, and/or boats remember to
ask if they are MN DNR certified. The MN DNR maintains a list of
certified LSPs for Hubbard County. Follow this link and scroll down
until you see "Park Rapids”: MN DNR List of Dock Service Providers, Hubbard County (this link loads slowly)
- If
you have a zebra mussel settlement sampler (PVC tube, cinder block,
plates, etc), please check it one last time and fill out the “Eyes on
the Water Survey” even if you do not find any AIS. An “absence” report
is important. Clean the sampler and reinstall next spring. Hubbard County COLA Eyes on the Water for Healthy Lakes
- Inspect
your own docks, lifts, rafts, boats for zebra mussels and any other AIS
as you remove them from the water. Make sure to look in areas that have
been in the shade under water like the backside of dock tires, for
example. Include your findings on the equipment as you complete the
“Eyes on the Water Survey”. An “absence” report is important too. (see
link above)
- If you find suspected
zebra mussels (ZM) and/or would like a second opinion as you inspect
your own docks and lifts on your shoreline, contact one of our certified
AIS detectors: Sharon Natzel, 763-355-7908, sharonmnatzel@
gmail.com or Jim Blodgett, 651-395-9317, jblodget@iusb. edu . This information is needed for our ZM pilot with the Univ of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC).
- It
is illegal to transport AIS (zebra mussels, etc) on a road. This guide
for shore-land owners helps explain when a permit is needed to
transport boats/equipment with attached AIS like zebra mussels. This
also helps address storing lifts, docks and watercraft for winter. https://www.dnr.
state.mn.us/invasives/ shoreland_owners.html
