An
actor addressing aquatic invasive species is the DNR of Minnesota. The DNR is a
governmental agency with origins from the Department of Conservation (1931),
Its was renamed after the creation of the EPA to Department of Natural
Resources (DNR). The Minnesota DNR is headquartered in St.Paul but it has
dozens of specialized offices around the state. The scope of their activities
only resides within Minnesota boundaries but shares authority of lake Superior
and St.Croix river with Wisconsin DNR. Ill mostly be focusing on zebra mussels just to give you an example of how the DNR battles aquatic invasive species (AIS).
The
Minnesota DNR is undergoing pilot projects in lakes with small and isolated
amounts of zebra mussels. Pilot projects consist of scanning for invasive
species, sitting and controlling them through various methods. The pilot
projects are groundbreaking in that they are using a chemical called “Zequanox”
. Zequanox is made of dead bacteria which kills specifically zebra
mussels and quagga, it has some adverse affects on native species so you must
put up walls in the water to keep it contained in the infested area. The is a
catch with Zequanox is the price, according to the Lakeshore Weekly it cost
tens of thousands of dollars per are of treatment. With already tight budgets
for the DNR it might not be the best long term solution. Zequanox is proving to
have positive effects, but not completely eradicating the mussels. Zequanox was
used to treat Christmas lake, which had small amounts of mussels in isolated
areas. Directly after the zequanox treatment a group of divers scouted the lake
for mussels and none were found. In a follow-up assessment about a month later
found that there were no mussels around the treated area but were found some
dispersed along the shallows of the lake. This problem cannot be solved solely by the projects.
“We’re
hopeful that these pilot projects, combined with vigilant lake monitoring and
adherence to clean, drain, dispose laws, can bring a heightened level of
response to the challenges of aquatic invasive species in Minnesota,” said Ann
Pierce, DNR section manager.
Some
say this type of treatment could be a waste of money and our efforts could be
focused in using copper sulfate, which is cheaper but more ineffective than
Zequanox. Another aspect to the problem is the transportation of invasive
species by boats.
The
problematic spots in lakes are around boat launches, this is because zebra
mussels can attach to boats and can be transported from infested lakes to clean
lakes. This is another problem the DNR is addressing by increasing boat
inspection hours and locations at infested lakes and especially when entering
clean lakes. The DNR aren’t doing these projects alone, they have a diverse set
of actors in cooperation such as invasive species researchers from the University of Minnesota, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, city of Shorewood and
waterfront restorations. This network of actors is comprised of local
governmental agencies, scientific advisory bodies and business.
According to the webpage the role for the DNR and invasive species
is “DNR works to help prevent the spread and
promote the management of invasive species.” The management can be noticed in the
creation of the AIS advisory committee, which persists of a wide range of
stakeholders and expertise. The prevention of spreading can be noticed in the
effort to create a trailer decal program which would have required everyone to
take a aquatic invasive species (AIS) test, in order to obtain a decal for boat
launching in lakes. This law was just recently appealed though.
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ReplyDeleteHi Danny,
ReplyDeleteI am hearing alot about the zebra and quagga mussel issue lately. In addition to reading your post, someone in another class of mine did a presentation about addressing the mussels. Needless to say, it seems like quite the issue that they cannot find one viable solution to. I found a positive note toward the end of your post about how the DNR is working to increase the hours of inspecting vessels at boat launches to ensure that they are cleaned off. I think this is a very crucial in addressing the zebra and quagga mussel problem. When someone is stationed to do inspections of boats leaving the great lakes, it ensures that the spread will be greatly reduced.