As the ice and snow begin to cover Vermont and we wrap up 2021, Ninevah Foundation would like to thank everyone, near and far, who loves and enjoys Lake Ninevah for yet another successful year of the Lake Ninevah Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program! This was the 20th year this program has been supported by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Aquatic Nuisance Control (ANC) Grant-in-Aid funds. Along with this grant funding, Ninevah Foundation provides matching funding through donor support, program coordination, and staffing. Two decades of invasive species prevention at Lake Ninevah would not be possible without the initial and continued support for the lake community who began the annual work to raise funds, apply for VT DEC grants, coordinate greeters at the public access, and ensure the lake is surveyed every year since 2001.
This summer, our Lake Ninevah greeters were able to complete over 1,000 hours checking over 1,200 boats entering and leaving the water from public access. Boat checks are part of the “Clean, Drain, Dry” initiative in preventing hitchhiking plants. Big thank you to our Lake Ninevah greeters Ron, Mike, Aryk, and Judson for their work this summer!
Additionally, we completed 20 hours surface and scuba surveys of Lake Ninevah this September with the combined efforts of botanist and ecologist Michael Lew-Smith from Arrowwood Environmental and Kelly Beerman, Conservation Director for Ninevah Foundation. Luckily, we did not find any invasive plants on the Vermont watchlist. Thanks to the team at Arrowwood for the intensive surveys and VT DEC for the ongoing Vermont Invasive Patroller (VIP) training and resources helpful for completing surveys.
Did you know you could get training to be a VIP, too? If you are a regular visitor of Lake Ninevah and would like to learn more about aquatic plants and survey methods, please reach out to Kelly Beerman at kelly@farmandwilderness.org for more information of how to become trained and jump on the schedule to survey Lake Ninevah in 2022!
Prevention measures such as greeter programs and surveys help waterbodies keep invasive species like water chestnut, Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, and more from spreading. Over 125 Vermont lakes, ponds, rivers, and reservoirs have known invasive species infestations. Luckily, Lake Ninevah is not on that list which is why it’s important that these prevention programs continue in the future. Learn more about invasive species and spread prevention on the VT DEC Lake & Ponds website.
Thank you to the Town of Mount Holly for coordination efforts with the staff at Ninevah Foundation so that we can continue to receive this important grant funding to run the program. While the grant funding from VT DEC does cover most of the costs, Ninevah Foundation covers what the grant does not cover. If you would like to support Ninevah Foundation's matching funds towards this program, please consider a donation to ensure we can maintain the same level of prevention efforts for another 20 years.
If you are interested in learning more, joining us as a greeter or volunteer, or make a donation to support next year’s program, please contact kelly@farmandwilderness.org. Looking forward to the return of boating season in 2022!