>> Please see our Home page for more 2020 season Information <<

---

Greetings Invasive Plant Patrollers!

We have been working hard to adapt to the new normal vis-a-vis COVID-19, and we greatly appreciate your patience! As announced back in April, LSM will not be conducting any in-person workshops, meetings, etc. in 2020. All webinars and technical assistance sessions will be recorded and posted to the LSM website for viewing at a more convenient time.

---

Quick links to additional resources

• IPP Handbook – The IPP handbook is updated with new content throughout the year

• IAS Reporting Guide – Learn how LSM can help you identify suspicous and curious lake phenomena

• LSM IAP Protocols & Procedures – Additional protocols and procedures for Invasive Plant Patrollers

• 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.)

• 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 & Cabelas Outdoor Fund

---

Announcing Two 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~

---

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 chistine@lakestewardsme.org a completed certification form.

---

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

---

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@lakestewardsmedotorg.

IPPer Zoom Room, Tuesdays from 2 to 2:45 PM

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.

Additional sessions
Tues, Sept. 29 at 2 PM
Tues, Oct. 6 at 2 PM
Tues, Oct. 13 at 2 PM
Register for any or all of them here

 

What’s This Aquatic Plant? Tuesdays from 3 to 3:45 PM

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.

Additional sessions
Tues, Sept. 29 at 3 PM
Tues, Oct. 6 at 3 PM
Tues, Oct. 13 at 3 PM
Register for any or all of them here

---

Using the Esri Survey 123 App to Document IAP Screening Surveys

~Link to additional information on Survey 123~
~Link to recording~

---

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

~Link to recording~