URGENT: Aquatic Exotic Invasive Plant Control, Volunteers Needed

[Since I managed to get much of this very confused--which is to say: wrong--here is an edited version. With luck, it will say what it ought. -- KH]


The Lake Anne Club has received an appeal from Vanessa Nadeau, a biologist with the Conseil regionale de l'environnement des Laurentides (CRE Laurentides), to participate in an assessment of the numbers and species of aquatic exotic invasive plants (AEIP) in the region's bodies of water. The liaison officer for this effort is Ms. Nadeau, who holds a masters degree in environmental studies.

The following is from the CRE letter:

"Her (Ms. Nadeau's) mandate includes the characterization [identification] of aquatic plants found in Argenteuil’s lakes, and the monitoring and detection of AEIP. To accomplish her mandate, Vanessa will need the help of motivated citizens who care about the protection of Argenteuil’s lakes. Antoine Boucher, the awareness officer, will join the team by mid-June to help in dectecting AEIP and to raise awareness among users of public accesses in different waterbodies.

[...] you are now invited to join Vanessa for the 2017 edition of the formation [training] on the AEIP characterization protocol, which includes an aquatic plants identification workshop. The formation will be held by the liaison officer and Melissa Laniel, project manager of the program Bleu Laurentides. Following the formation, Vanessa will accompany you on the field later in the summer for the characterization of aquatic plants occurring in your lake."

Ms. Nadeau contacted the Lake Anne Club directly with the following timetable:

July 7 (this very Friday): Training on identification of aquatic plants. The course is not mandatory, though it is highly recommended.

Identifying aquatic plants means going out onto the lake for a day or two and trying to identify all the plants found in that lake to ensure no AEIPs are present. For Lake Anne, since it's quite a big lake, it would probably take two days. Ms. Nadeau has all the necessary equipment, but needs a boat (or kayak or canoe) and, of course, volunteers to paddle/row while she works.

Stephanie has arranged for Ms. Nadeau to be on our lake on Monday, July 24, and Wednesday, July 26. Your help is needed for:

• boats with rowers or paddlers (2) to transport Ms. Nadeau as she does her work of plant identification;
• boats and spare rowers or paddlers to carry a Lake Anne resident in surveying other areas of the lake, after they receive some training from Ms. Nadeau (July 7).

If Ms. Nadeau does the inventory alone, it will take two days; with other eyes in other boats, it will take less.

Please contact Stephanie  at stephanie@fosteringsustainability.ca if you are able to help