APIPP News: Welcome to Invasive Species Awareness Week—Join us Tonight and June 8 for Adirondack Water Wednesday Events; DEC Announces New Clean, Drai

APIPP News: Welcome to Invasive Species Awareness Week—Join us Tonight and June 8 for Adirondack Water Wednesday Events; DEC Announces New Clean, Drai

Dear Partners,

Welcome to New York’s Invasive Species Awareness Week (ISAW) 2022! Organizations across the state are offering a variety of engaging events to promote invasive species awareness (click here for the statewide calendar of events). 

Here in the Adirondacks, we are kicking off ISAW tonight from 6:00pm-8:00pm at Adirondack Lakes and Trails Outfitters in Saranac Lake with a campfire, s’mores, and more. You can also join in the fun during Adirondack Water Wednesday events on June 8 hosted by APIPP and the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI). See all the details below. June 8 is also the day that the new aquatic invasive species law for the Adirondacks goes into effect. Read more from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) below.

June 6: 6:00pm-8:00pm ISAW “Kick-Off” Campfire and More!

Join AWI and APIPP for the kickoff of Invasive Species Awareness Week! AWI and APIPP staff will provide interactive activities for families, a brief presentation, and a clean-drain-dry demonstration at Adirondack Lakes and Trails Outfitters at 8 Church Street in Saranac Lake. Stop by and enjoy the fun. We'll have a campfire with snacks and s’mores. Registration is not required.

June 8: ISAW Adirondack Water Wednesday

June 8, 1:00pm-2:00pm Webinar: “Invasive Species for Lake Lovers”

If you love the lakes and ponds of NY, the “Invasive Species for Lake Lovers” webinar on June 8 is for you. Join APIPP’s aquatic invasive species coordinator, Brian Greene, to learn about ways invasive species can impact the quality of your favorite lake. Invasive species can have negative effects on the environment, the ecology, and the economy of our Adirondack waterways and communities. Brian will discuss ways large and small, obvious and obscure, that invasive plants and animals impact our lakes. More importantly, he will review simple steps everyone can take to prevent the spread of invasive species and to help scientists collect data. Register here.

June 8, 2:00pm-5:00pm Family-Friendly Event at the Lake Flower Boat Launch
Get outside on Water Wednesday! From 2:00pm–5:00pm, you can join APIPP, AWI, the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, and the Ausable River Association for an interactive, family-friendly afternoon at Lake Flower in Saranac Lake, NY. This fun event is for those curious about aquatic invasive species and anyone gearing up to spend a summer on the water.

Drop by the Lake Flower Boat Launch in Saranac Lake to play games, learn hands-on identification of aquatic invasive plants of the Adirondacks, and get information on steps you can take to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species to protect your favorite waterways. Please come prepared to spend the afternoon outdoors with a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and drinking water. There are public restrooms at the boat launch and parking will be available across the street at the former Nonna Fina restaurant. Registration is encouraged, and you can register here.

June 8, 6:30pm-8:30pm Documentary “Uninvited” Screening at the Hotel Saranac

Come to the historic Hotel Saranac on 100 Main Street in Saranac Lake and join AWI and APIPP for a showing of “Uninvited: The Spread of Invasive Species.” The film is an hour-long documentary produced by DEC with funding provided by the Environmental Protection Fund. This professionally produced and highly engaging film dives into what can happen when invasives species are left unchecked and shows how strong partnerships and sound management can help protect our environment and our economy from the impacts of invasive species. Following the film, AWI and APIPP staff and partners will be available for questions and a brief discussion. The bar will be open for food and beverage purchases throughout. Registration is not required.

New Adirondack Clean, Drain, Dry Regulations in Effect Starting June 8

The following paragraph is forwarded from the DEC website. APIPP will share additional details about the new law as information becomes available. 

“Beginning on June 8, 2022, all boaters operating motorized watercraft in the Adirondack Park and within ten miles of the Blue Line are required by law to possess certification that, before launching, their vessel has undergone measures to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species by following the Clean.Drain.Dry. standards described in NYS Regulation (6 NYCRR Part 576).

These certificates can be acquired by visiting a DEC designated aquatic invasive species inspection station where boat stewards are present to inspect or decontaminate vessels and to provide boaters with a certification card. Alternately, boaters may perform Clean.Drain.Dry. steps themselves and then complete a self-issued certificate. A Self-Issued Certificate is available below to be printed and carried by boaters.

I hope to see you at one of the ISAW events!

Tammara