Greetings Invasive Plant Patrollers!
Because of CoViD-19, LSM had to change all training and informational sessions to an online format. All webinars and technical assistance sessions from the 2020 summer season were recorded and are posted below for your viewing at a convenient time.
Quick links to additional resources
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IPP Handbook – The IPP handbook is updated with new content throughout the year
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IAS Reporting Guide – Learn how LSM can help you identify suspicous and curious lake phenomena
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LSM IAP Protocols & Procedures – Additional protocols and procedures for Invasive Plant Patrollers
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Aquatic Phenomena Photo Submission Form – Please use this form if you wish to submit photos for identification assistance. (If you have not submitted photos this way before, please see the IAS Reporting Guide for instructions prior to completing the form.)
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What’s This Aquatic Plant Photo Submission Form – Please use this form if you wish to share photos for at one of our “What’s This Aquatic Plant” online sessions
2020 Invasive Plant Patrol Trainings
Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Outdoor Fund
Using the Survey 123 App to Document IAP Screening Surveys
~Link to additional information on Survey 123~
~Link to recording~
Advanced Plant ID Webinar Series
Learn how to confidently identify milfoils, bladderworts, and common pondweeds to species level through this 3-part series presented by LSM’s Invasive Species Program Director, Roberta Hill.
Special thanks to York County Invasive Aquatic Species Project Founder and Director, Laurie Callahan, for her extensive help in preparing these webinars.
Wednesday, August 5, 2PM – 4PM: Advanced Plant ID Part 1 – Milfoils
Wednesday, August 12, 2PM – 4PM: Advanced Plant ID Part 2 – Bladderworts
~ Recording available in the near future ~
Wednesday, August 19, 2PM – 4PM: Advanced Plant ID Part 3 – Common Pondweeds
~ Link to recording ~
Training, Networking and Technical Support Opportunities
These first-come, first-served Zoom-based technical assistance sessions are open to all, but attendance will be capped at 14 participants per session. Larger group and/or customized IPP team meetings may be scheduled by contacting Roberta at roberta@lakestewardsme.org.
IPPer Zoom Room
Is the pandemic posing new challenges for your IPP team? Do you have a success story to share or an idea to bounce around with your fellow IPPers? Please join one of these weekly check-in/problem solving/QA/brainstorming sessions.
No sessions are scheduled at this time
What’s This Aquatic Plant?
Please join us for one of our weekly online plant ID sessions. Taking our cues from the “teach a man to fish” philosophy of providing assistance, we will help walk you through the process of first, determining if you have found a suspicious plant; and next, identifying your plant. Please submit photos of any plants you would like to share at the session in advance of the session using the form link below. PLEASE click here for directions on how to take a “readable” photo.
Please submit photos of the plants you wish to share in advance of the session.
No sessions are scheduled at this time
IPP 101 Webinar Series
Invasive Plant Patrol 101 (LSM’s IPP certification course) is comprised of three parts:
- Part 1 provides a general introduction to the threat of aquatic invaders;
- Part 2 provides guidance for conducting an invasive plant screening survey, including discussion of tools and techniques;
- Part 3 takes a deep dive into Aquatic Plant ID with a focus on the eleven invasive aquatic plants considered to be most imminent threats to our state, and their native look-a-likes.
Participants who wish to become LSM Certified Invasive Plant Patrollers must pass a short online quiz at the conclusion of each course section. The quiz is optional for all others.
In the final stage of certification, participants are asked to collect several aquatic plants on their own, and then attend one of LSM’s regularly scheduled Plant ID Zoom Sessions (schedule and registration below) for feedback on tentative ID’s and/or guided identification.
IPP 101 Parts 1: Introduction to Aquatic Invaders in Maine
~Link to recording~
~Link to Quiz~
IPP 101 Parts 2: How to Hunt for Aquatic Invaders
~Link to recording~
~Link to Quiz~
IPP 101 Part 3: Aquatic Plants; How to Identify Maine’s 11 Most Unwanted and their Common Native Look-Alikes
~Link to recording~
~Link to Quiz~
To become a LSM Certified Invasive Plant Patroller you must receive 70% or more on all three quizzes and then send christine@lakestewardsme.org a completed certification form.
Special Trainings Focused Upon Recently-Confirmed Infestations
The Hunt for Invasive Milfoil in Big Lake & How You Can Help
~Link to recording~
The Hunt for Invasive Naiad in Lake Arrowhead & How You Can Help
~Link to recording~
Each webinar is specifically focused on a particular invasive aquatic plant of concern: variable water-milfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum) confirmed in late 2019 in Big Lake in Washington County, and spiny naiad (Najas minor) just recently confirmed in Lake Arrowhead in York County. Both sessions will include what is currently known about the extent of spread in these lakes; the biology and typical habitat of the species of concern; the key features by which each species may be positively identified; how to distinguish each from a host of native look alike plants; and importantly, what to do if one finds any suspicious aquatic plants while out on the water.
The sessions will be presented by John McPhedran (MEDEP) and Roberta Hill (LSM) in the form of a live online (Zoom) webinar. The trainings will be recorded, and a link to the recordings will be made available on the LSM website, and to all interested parties. The live sessions provide an opportunity for questions and answers.
Though some time will be devoted in each of the trainings to a discussion of the specific infestations mentioned above, much of the content will be more general, covering the fundamentals of each species of concern; how to spot it, and what to do next. For this reason, all who are interested are welcome to attend.
Downeast Lakes Land Trust Presents Milfoil in Big Lake: What is it and how do we respond?
Guest Speakers: John McPhedran (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) & Roberta Hill (Lake Stewards of Maine)
This Presentation took place on June 16 at 6PM
The recent discovery of variable-leaf milfoil in Big Lake is a wakeup call for the watersheds of the Downeast Lakes region, which are threatened with the invasion of exotic plant species. These unwanted species can cause irreparable damage to fisheries and native ecosystems, and they can be spread unintentionally on boats, float planes, and even GORE-TEX waders! Join representatives from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Lake Stewards of Maine to learn about the planned response to the Big Lake infestation, as well as how to identify aquatic invasive plants, how to report outbreaks, and how to avoid accidentally spreading these harmful species.
For more on Downeast Lakes Land Trust, please visit their website. www.downeastlakes.org
