This article was featured in the 2022 Spring Newsletter by Brittney Rogers-SLELO PRISM.
WISP 2022: On May 27 the 2022 Watercraft Inspection Steward Program kicks off! In addition to conducting voluntary inspections at the launches, stewards will also be participating in NY ISAW, Great Lakes AIS Landing Blitz Week, our new Launch and Learn, writing articles for local papers/website, Water Chestnut Pulls, and attending some local fishing tournaments. Be on the lookout for the stewards and remember to Protect Your Waters by always following the simple steps to Clean-Drain-Dry your equipment.
Aquatic Restoration Initiative: at South Sandy Creek will include monitoring for re-growth of phragmites and Japanese knotweed and treatments will occur as needed. We will be continuing our native seed installation, and drone flights following the patterns from Phase I as well as the development of a long-term monitoring plan. To learn more about this work, be sure to attend the South Sandy Creek Experience event on June 11. More details for this can be found on our events page .
Dunes Restoration: Following the 2021 Dune Assessment of Invasive Species, SLELO PRISM Special Project Funding was allocated to Phase II of the Dunes Restoration Initiative which began this April to manage the invasive Phragmites australis and initiate native species restoration with the development of a long-term monitoring plan. This project would not be possible without the numerous project partners and local private landowner support. This project is also receiving additional funding to support more native species installation at the site in an effort to reduce dune destabilization from the removal of the invasive species.
Environmental DNA – We are pleased to share that we will be collaborating with the Adirondack PRISM for our 2022 eDNA project which will be assessing the distribution of invasive species between connected waterways of the Eastern Lake Ontario, St Lawrence River, and the Adirondacks. We will be collecting samples from five major rivers in the region. Stay tuned for updates on this project!
For more information on these projects or any other aquatic invasive species-focused project, contact the Aquatic Restoration and Resiliency Coordinator, Brittney Rogers at Brittney.Rogers@tnc.org Learn More About our eDNA Project.
