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Courtesy Boat Inspections Related page: For information on starting your own Courtesy Boat Inspection as well as guidance on training and financial aid, contact Lakes Environmental Association. (off-site)
BackgroundMaine 's Courtesy Boat Inspection (CBI) Program completed its 8 th year in 2008. The purpose of these voluntary inspections is to reduce the spread of invasive aquatic plants (IAP) by boats, trailers, and associated equipment to Maine waters. Trained Courtesy Boat Inspectors describe to boaters the risk posed by IAP, show boaters how to inspect and remove vegetation from boating and fishing equipment, and answer questions regarding IAP. Maine DEP continues to contract with Lakes Environmental Association in Bridgton to train volunteers and organize the inspections; Maine Congress of Lake Associations trains volunteers in northern and eastern Maine . 2008 Courtesy Boat Inspection Results SummaryAs the chart below indicates, inspectors conducted 49,064 Courtesy Boat Inspections in 2008, only 719 fewer inspections than in 2007 despite the high price of gasoline in 2008. To achieve this, 2350 additional inspection hours were logged in 2008 for a total of 28,884 hours, roughly equivalent to 14 full-time employees. Maintaining this high level of prevention effort is a tremendous achievement for local and regional groups running the inspection programs. Boats were inspected both entering and leaving a lake with the majority of inspections (62%) conducted on boats entering.
Maine law states that all motorized boats operated on inland (non-tidal) waters must display the current year's Lake and River Protection Sticker. The sticker has been required since 2002 and was, up until 2008, sold separately from the Maine watercraft registration. Beginning in 2008 the sticker fee was combined with the watercraft registration fee for Maine registered watercraft used on inland waters. The sticker now reads “Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers - Preserve Maine Waters” and is attached to the watercraft registration.
This change was due in part to the numerous comments received from the public during boat inspections requesting that the Lake and River Protection Sticker merge with the Maine boat registration to streamline the payment process. This merger reduced administrative costs for the State's Invasive Species Program by eliminating the cost of producing and tracking a separate Lake and River Protection Sticker for Maine-registered boats. Owners of non-Maine registered boats continue to be required to purchase and affix a separate non-resident sticker. A new Lake and River Protection Sticker for boats registered outside Maine must be purchased every year and affixed to all motorized watercraft. With the combination of the Lake and River Protection Sticker and Maine Watercraft Registration, one would expect the compliance rate for in-state motorized boats on inland waters to be 100%. Surprisingly this wasn't the case; the compliance rate, while still high, actually dropped 1% to 96% for inspected Maine registered boats. Sticker compliance for non-Maine registered boats declined 3% to 74%. While both motorized and non-motorized boats are inspected, sticker compliance results are calculated using just the motorized boats since these are required by Maine law to have a Lake and River Protection Sticker.
The slight decrease in sticker compliance rate for Maine registered watercraft may be due to: • Inspectors lack of familiarity with the newly combined watercraft registration/lake and river protection sticker. Some inspectors may have still been looking for the old triangular sticker and therefore mistakenly noted the sticker as lacking. • A percentage of boaters that simply did not register their boat. If the boat wasn't registered, there could be no lake and river protection sticker. • Boaters who initially registered their boat for tidal use only but later launched on inland waters without “upgrading” their watercraft registration for use on inland waters. Boaters using their watercraft on tidal waters only are not required to pay the additional $10 fee for invasive species work, and therefore the rectangular invasive portion of the watercraft registration is removed by the person selling the watercraft registration. But boaters may pay the additional $10, and essentially receive a new watercraft registration, if they later decide to use their boat on tidal and inland waters. Plant Interceptions and SavesInspections that yielded plants – invasive and/or native – on boats exiting infested lakes ranged from 0% at seven of the thirteen infested waterbodies to 41% at Lake Arrowhead . The next highest transmission rate was 21% at Pleasant Pond in Litchfield. The high rates are likely due to the fact that these lakes have thick plant colonies, both invasive and native, growing at or near the ramps whereas the other infested lakes do not. Statewide, the percent of inspections that intercepted plants ranged from 2.1% to 3.1% between 2004 and 2008. A “save” is when an intercepted plant turns out to be one of the plants on Maine 's prohibited list. As the chart below illustrates, the number of invasive plant catches has decreased over the last couple of years. This is largely due to the permanent closing, on July 2, 2007, of the highly infested Route 27 launch on Messalonskee Lake in Belgrade , Maine . This contributed to a 60% drop in invasive plant fragments in 2007. The launch was closed for the entire 2008 season and contributed to a further 33% reduction in invasive plant fragment catches.
Most invasive plant “saves” were on boats exiting infested waters. However, for the fifth consecutive year the Courtesy Boat Inspection Program again confirmed instances of invasive plants being intercepted prior to launching. Of particular note are four saves at un-infested lakes. Inspectors at Great East Lake in Acton intercepted Eurasian water milfoil ( Myriophyllum spicatum ) and variable water milfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum) on separate boats. An inspector on Great Pond in Belgrade intercepted a boat carrying Eurasian water milfoil and an inspector at Lovewell Pond in Fryeburg intercepted a water chestnut (Trapa natans) seed pod on a jet ski trailer. The remaining 110 invasive plant saves were variable water milfoil found primarily on boats leaving infested lakes (see the table below for the complete tally of saves). Other reported invasive plant saves could not be confirmed by state program experts either because definitive identification was not possible or because the suspicious plant was not sent in for identification. These saves are not recorded.
Confirmed “Saves”
Eurasian water milfoil, water chestnut, and variable water milfoil are prohibited by Maine law and as such are considered a threat to Maine waters. Eurasian water milfoil is now known to be in two waterbodies in Maine : a 28 acre pond in Scarborough and in the outlet cove of 695 acre Salmon Lake in Belgrade ; the latter discovered in August 2008. The DEP is managing both infestations; more information is available by emailing milfoil@maine.gov . Eurasian water milfoil is also confirmed in every other New England state. Variable water milfoil is known to be in 26 lakes, ponds and streams in Maine . There are no known populations of water chestnut in Maine lakes. ConclusionsThanks to the dedicated volunteer inspectors and to those who coordinate their organization's boat inspection efforts, the CBI Program is successful. The near invasion aborted by observant inspectors display this as does the dramatic increase in inspections since the Program's inception, from 2,848 inspections in 2001 to over 49,000 inspections in both 2007 and 2008. Courtesy Boat Inspections continue to reduce the risk of spreading invasive plants as evidenced by 114 confirmed “saves” of invasive aquatic plants in 2008. The inspections are also an effective method to educate the public about the threat of invasive plants to our lakes. Inspections provide one-on-one interaction with the public and inspectors provide immediate responses to the public's questions. In all cases the volunteer and paid inspectors have a vested interest in protecting the lake they live on and therefore are strong advocates for inspecting boats. DEP will again offer small grants for local courtesy boat inspection programs on uninfested waters in 2009 using a portion of the funds generated by the annual Lake and River Protection Sticker. In addition, DEP will continue to arrange for inspections at public ramps on infested lakes to reduce the risk of spread between Maine waters. But the long term success of invasive aquatic plant spread prevention efforts will require self-inspection by boaters since the state-supported CBI Program can not maintain the current level of support in perpetuity. Therefore, courtesy boat inspectors are encouraging boaters to self-inspect every time they launch and remove their boat. or more information concerning Maine 's Courtesy Boat Inspection Program, visit the Maine DEP's web site at www.state.me.us/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/index.htm or the Lakes Environmental Association web site at www.mainelakes.org/ , or email DEP at milfoil@maine.gov. To see a CBI training video visit www.mciap.org /. |
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