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Maine Lakes Report
The Maine Lakes Report is the VLMP Annual Report summarizing 2011 Maine lake data with an overview of lake water quality and invasive aquatic plants. The report also includes an update of lakes with certified volunteer monitors. For a hard copy of the Annual Report contact us.
Print version errata:
Page 14, Figure 10: Mean value should read 5.3 meters.
Page 87, Lifelong Volunteers: Joe Potts was inadvertently omitted from the list; he has been volunteering for 23 years with the VLMP, and is currently Regional Coordinator for Oxford County. Our apologies, Joe!
PDF Download: 2011 Maine Lakes Report (8MB)
Map of 2011 Lake Transparency (5.3MB)
Map of Lakes with Invasive Aquatic Plant Surveys 2002-2011 (1.8MB)
Please help support VLMP’s free online resources and publications by making a gift now.
Current: 
Water Quality Resources
- Prospective Monitors
- Secchi Disk Transparency Monitor Procedures, Forms & Updates
- Dissolved Oxygen & Temp Monitors Procedures, Forms & Updates
- Baseline Chemistry Monitors Procedures, Forms & Updates
Invasive Aquatic Plant Resources 
Quick Key
To Ruling Out Maine’s 11 Most Unwanted Invasive Aquatic Plants
The Quick Key is a convenient pocket sized guide to ruling out Maine’s eleven most unwanted invasive aquatic plants. To request a copy please contact vlmp@mainevlmp.org.
Maine Field Guide to Invasive Aquatic Plants
and their common native look alikes
The Field Guide focuses on the eleven invasive aquatic plants currently listed by Maine law as imminent threats to Maine waters.
Also featured are many native aquatic plants commonly confused with these eleven invasive species.
Photographs, illustrations and narrative descriptions are presented for each of the featured species, along with a variety of cross-reference tools for easy comparison of similar species.
This 160-page reference–spiral bound and printed on tear-resistant waterproof paper–is built to hold up well to conditions in the field (including inclement weather and the occasional dunking).
Free Field Guides for VLMP Monitors: One complimentary copy per volunteer.
Ordering Info:
The Field Guides can be ordered for $19.95 each plus shipping, handling & sales tax (for Maine orders).
- To order online with a credit card through PayPal click the Buy Now button.
- Or print the Field Guide order form to pay by check through the mail.
- For purchase orders, bulk orders (>17 copies) or tax exempt orders in Maine please contact the VLMP office at 207-783-7733 or vlmp@mainevlmp.org or by mail to:
VLMP, 24 Maple Hill Rd, Auburn, ME 04210.
Errata: Field Guide Errata.
Alternate Formats
Please help support VLMP’s free online resources and publications by making a gift now.
Preventing the spread of invasive aquatic plants through education and boat inspections is essential to protecting Maine’s water resources. But 100% effectiveness is unlikely no matter how comprehensive the prevention effort. At some point, an invader is bound to slip through the cracks. It is very important for people who enjoy Maine’s lakes, ponds and rivers to learn how to recognize a suspicious plant when they see it, and know exactly what steps to take when they do. The Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants (MCIAP) announces a unique new educational tool that teaches exactly that! It will be available for a select number of schools, lake associations, civic clubs and other pilot groups in fall of 2005.
The Friend or Foe? Learning Kit has been designed to provide a quick, easy, hands-on method for teaching people with no previous plant identification experience how to quickly determine if a plant in question is a “friendly native” or a “suspected invader.” The Kit contains a collection of several true-to-form plastic plants (some representing invasive species, others, harmless natives), a set of 25 Quick Keys to Ruling Out Maine’s Eleven Most Unwanted Invasive Aquatic Plants, a self-guided practice sheet (that may be reproduced for students, or simply used by the instructor to guide the activity), and a host of other resource materials, including an instructor’s guide with background information and additional, hands-on invasive species lesson plans. At the conclusion of the exercise, it is recommended that participants keep their Key. (The handy, waterproof, pocket-folded keys may be reordered at low cost from CIAP.)
A limited number of kits will be ready for testing by schools and other pilot groups in the fall of 2005. If you are interested in participating in the pilot program, please contact the Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants at vlmp@mainevlmp.org or 207-783-7733. Feedback from all pilot groups will help to refine the “final product.” For those who do not make it into the 2005 pilot program, please stay tuned . . . CIAP plans to shift the Friend or Foe? Learning Kits into full-scale production next year!
IAS Documents (requires adobe reader)
- Invasive Plant Patroller’s Handbook
The Invasive Plant Patroller’s Handbook Online is an online copy of the handbook that participants receive at the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program’s Introductory Invasive Plant Patrol training workshops. The Invasive Plant Patroller’s Handbook Online is filled with useful resources for Plant Patrollers interested in keeping their notebooks up-to-date and accurate. It has all the latest information, new resources, and the year’s updated forms for submitting plant or organism specimens, conducting a survey, or becoming a certified monitor. - What can we do to prevent the spread of invasive plantsWritten by Maine DEP
- Maine Waterbodies Surveyed for Invasive Plants
- Depth maps are available on the VLMP lake pages:
- Interactive Online Field Guide
- CBI Plant ID sheets – quick plant ID sheets used by Courtesy Boat Inspectors
IAS Forms (requires adobe reader)
- All forms, including those for Suspicious Plant ID and Screening Surveys, are listed on the Invasive Plant Patrol Handbook page.
- Certified IPP Application Form
Invasive Plant Patrol Monitor Certification 
The goal of the IPP Certification Program is to encourage and support individual and group commitment to annual collection and submission of invasive aquatic plant screening survey data. To become a Certified Plant Patroller you must have participated in at least one Introductory IPP workshop (or equivalent training), complete the questionnaire (only the portions that apply) and sign the statement of commitment. The VLMP Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants will provide all certified patrollers with standardized field sheets, and an ID card.
- Bucket Scope Instructions
- View Canoe Instructions
- Trunk Scope – Instructions
Click photos for larger size with descriptions.
- Weed Weasel Instructions
- Anchor and Buoy Instructions
Signs and Posters
 Warningsign for boat launches. |
 Maine’s Eleven Most Unwanted Poster |
 Maine DEP Map of Known Locations of Invasive Plant Infestations |
IAS Links
- Maine DEP Invasive Aquatic Plants Page
- Maine’s Rapid Response Plan
- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants – UFL
- Minnesota – Controlling Invasive Aquatic Species
- Invasive Species in the Great Lakes Region
Collaborating Partners
The VLMP works cooperatively and in partnership with:
- Maine Department of Environmental Protection
- Maine Department of Conservation
- Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
- The University of Maine – George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research
- Maine Congress of Lake Associations
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension
- Maine Water Utilities Association (MWUA)
- Auburn Water District / Lewiston Water District
- The Cobbossee Watershed District
- The Portland Water District
- St. Croix International Waterway Commission
- Allagash Wilderness Waterway
- Pasamaquoddy Indian Nation- Tribal Government Environmental Department
- Acadia National Park
- The Biodiversity Research Institute
- Lakes Environmental Association
- The Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy
- Maine Bass Federation
- Lake & Watershed Associations
- Towns and many other regional organizations concerned with water quality issues.
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