Thoroughly cleaning boats is keeping invasive species out of two Michigan lakes

The simple act of thoroughly washing boats has significantly decreased the amount of invasive species in two northern Michigan lakes, Leslie Mertz reports for Great Lakes Echo, a project of the journalism department at Michigan State University. "While the Great Lakes and other lakes across the state struggle with a collection of non-native species that can affect fishing, swimming and lake ecology, Big and Little Glen lakes are nearly invasive-free." The program, which began in 1994 in Big and Little Glen Lakes, will wash about 4,000 boats this year. (Echo photo by Leslie Mertz: Sallyanne Morris flushes a boat engine)

Boaters can be fined $500 for refusing to have their boat washed, but it's a simple process that takes five minutes, Mertz reports. "Vehicles trailering a boat pull up to the station, a little wooden shack at the Department of Natural Resources public boat launch that services the two adjoining lakes. A boat-wash worker asks the driver if the boat has been in another lake in the past 10 days. If so, the worker sprays off the hull and trailer with heated water and flushes the engine to remove or kill hitchhiking species that might still cling to life there. The worker asks drivers if they are bringing in bait minnows. Store receipts are checked to verify that the minnows are virus-free and not a potential source of the deadly infectious fish disease called viral hemorrhagic septicemia."

The cost to run the operation at Little Glen is $29,000 a year, Mertz reports. The funds come from lake association dues. Sarah Litch, who is on the Glen Lake Association boat-wash committee, told Mertz, “Looking at milfoil alone, the $29,000 we spend is a pittance compared to the cost for fighting just that one species in your lake.” (Read more)