Citizens Help Search for Invasive Species at Aquatic Invasive Species Snapshot Day 2018

On August 18^th, the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance teamed up with partners across the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota for the fifth annual Aquatic Invasive Species Snapshot Day! Over 35 volunteers in the Fox-Wolf River Basin helped to search, gather, and report invasive species that cause problems in our lakes and rivers. With sampling sites in Shawano, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago counties, several teams of volunteers were trained on how to identify and sample aquatic invasive species before monitoring at several sites. Overall, no new invasive species were found in the Winnebago system on Snapshot Day! In Shawano county, our new AIS Coordinator for Shawano and Menominee counties Brady Stockwell was joined by five other volunteers. With the help of these new citizen scientists, we were able to document and verify new populations of invasive species that will lead to improved management decisions to stop the invasion of these plants and animals!

If you are interested in helping with this event next year or in becoming a citizen scientist, contact the Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator in your county:

•   Calumet, Fond du Lac, Winnebago: Chris Acy at chris@fwwa.org or at (920) 460-3674
•   Shawano and Menominee: Brady Stockwell at brady@fwwa.org or at (920) 851-4336

We want to give a HUGE thank you to all of those who came out to volunteer! This event would not have been possible without you!

Rendezvous Site Summaries

Winnebago Waterways

The Menasha team had several sites in Menasha, Neenah, Appleton, Little Chute, and Sherwood. Several instances of zebra mussels and curly leaf  pondweed were found in Appleton while Eurasian watermilfoil, curly leaf pondweed, faucet snails, and zebra mussels were located at sampling sites in Menasha and Neenah. Near High Cliff and the north shore of Lake Winnebago, populations of Eurasian watermilfoil and zebra mussels were detected. The same species were found at sites along the Western shore of the lake including Asylum Bay and Grundman Lane boat launch. The  citizen scientists did find an interesting species while sampling the Menasha Channel; a Chinese Mystery Snail! Check it out in this picture!

The volunteer team in Stockbridge found populations of curly leaf pondweed in Mill Creek which connects to Lake Winnebago. This team of volunteers has been a part of AIS Snapshot Day for several years. This year, the volunteers found mostly native aquatic plants.

Similarly, team Fond du Lac found many of these same invasive species at their sampling sites. This included Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, and purple loosestrife. This team did sample several places near the mouth of De Neveu Creek where it enters Lake Winnebago and found zebra mussels attached to many underwater plants. In future years, sample sites will include places further upstream!

The UW Oshkosh team (Rendezvous site Winneconne) reported that they found no new invasive species at any of their locations using the dry protocol. Megan, Jesse, and Shannon met with local volunteers Dana and Valerie at the Winneconne Rendezvous site and sampled for invasive species in Winneconne and Omro.  A few zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, and rusty crayfish were observed.  Megan and Jesse road bikes on the trail alongside Hwy 41 to inspect two of the bridges that run across Lake Butte Des Morts where they found that purple loosestrife was common.  Anna covered the mouths of small streams at the southwest end of Lake Winnebago and came across curly-leaf pondweed and flowering rush.  No invasive species were observed by Jeshanah at Riverside or Island Parks nor in Campbell Creek and Sawyer Creek in Oshkosh by Samantha or Maria.  Autumn traveled up to the Fremont bridge and also reported no invasive species.

Shawano

Shawano County had one main rendezvous site where local AIS Coordinator, Brady Stockwell, was the site leader. Stockwell was joined by 5 other volunteers to tackle 7 different monitoring sites. Together, Stockwell and the volunteers were able to monitor for invasive species at Judd Park boat landing in Shawano, Swan Acres boat landing, Murray Creek in Shawano, Duchess Creek in Shawano, Lulu Lake boat landing, Huckleberry Harbor boat landing, and Washington Lake boat landing. From these sites, several invasive species were located such as curly-leaf pondweed, Eurasian water-milfoil, banded mystery snails, zebra mussels and others. Of these species, 3 were identified by the Shawano County team that had not yet been verified by the Wisconsin DNR. These include, purple loosestrife at the Washington Lake boat launch, curly-leaf pondweed in Murray Creek, and yellow-flag iris at the Huckleberry Harbor boat launch. The squad finished off the day with good conversation and good food back at Hotz Park in Shawano. This was the first AIS Snapshot day conducted in Shawano County and, overall, it was a great success.

Article written by: Chris Acy (Winnebago Waterways Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator) and Brady Stockwell (Shawano/Monominee counties Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator), Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. Questions or feedback? Contact Chris at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org or Brady at (920) 851-4336 or brady@fwwa.org.

To learn more about invasive species and their impacts to Wisconsin’s waters and economy, visit DNR.wi.gov and search “Invasive Species”.

Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance program. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization that identifies and advocates effective policies and actions that protect, restore, and sustain water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.

Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on Twitter! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.