Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinators Help Educate at Wings Over Wisconsin Fishing Day and Trout in the Classroom

Conservation a Focus at Fishing Day and Trout in the Classroom Events

Wings over Wisconsin held their annual Kids Fishing Day on May 17th which included aquatic invasive species outreach. Over 150 students came to the event to learn about how to boat and fish safely from the DNR, fly fishing, how to fish, fish filleting, and how to protect lakes and rivers from aquatic invasive species. Winnebago Waterways AIS Coordinator Chris Acy and the newly hired AIS Coordinator for Shawano and Menominee Counties, Anna Bartsch, had aquatic invasive species specimens and other tools on had to talk about what invasive species are and how they get to different lakes. The students were able to use aquascopes (large PVC pipes with a plastic piece on the end) to help search for invasive species in the Wings Over Wisconsin lakes. In the afternoon, the students used fishing poles to fish on the lakes. At the end of the day, the Wings over Wisconsin group gave every kid a fishing pole and beginner tackle box!

On May 20th, the annual Trout in the Classroom event occurred at Stony Brook in Chilton. Middle and high schoolers helped release trout that were raised in their Chilton schools. In addition to learning about trout, the students learned about watersheds, how the DNR samples streams for fish, and also helped to check the stream for aquatic invasive species (AIS).  Chris Acy and Anna Bartsch were at the event to help kids understand the challenges invasive species can cause on streams. Anna and Chris started the presentation helping the kids define invasive species and how they spread. Afterwords, the kids used aquascopes to help monitor the stream for AIS!  The event is a great way for students to experience the outdoors and to learn about fish, invasive species, watersheds, and how to care for our streams!

Both events were a great way for Fox-Wolf to educate kids about invasive species!