Cook County will be receiving aquatic invasive species prevention aid in the amount of $81,121 for 2014 and $180,269 in 2015—if the county develops a plan to prevent the spread of aquatic invasives. A plan must be in place by December 31, 2014.
District Manager of the Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) Kerri Berg appeared before Cook County Commissioners on Tuesday, August 19, along with concerned citizen Biz Clark, to explain the requirements that come along with the grant.
Berg said she had recruited Biz Clark to look at the guidelines because she is “very knowledgeable” about water issues.
Berg explained that the money distributed depends on the number of boat launches in a county. She said the funds could be spent on anything that helps prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS.) She said the money could be used for education, meetings, signage or inspectors, but the county had to set some guidelines
“So, the one thing our county has to do by December 31 is to provide a resolution and guidelines and the website has examples,” said Berg, adding that she and Clark felt confident about accepting the funds after studying the guidelines and watching a webinar. “Its totally something we can do,” said Berg.
“Based on the webinar I watched, it seems many counties are giving it to their land management department, some planning and zoning, some soil and waters and it looks like some counties are hiring a person to do it,” Berg said. She said she could call other counties to see what they are doing.
Berg said what she envisioned was a lead person and a group of people like those currently serving on the Cook County Invasives Species Team, which tackles terrestrial pests, working together to develop guidelines for controlling AIS.
Clark told the county board that she has been involved with the issue of AIS for about four years. She said the DNR has tried to get the concern about the spread of AIS across through education programs for boaters. However, she said the experience of other states shows that the best way to halt the spread of AIS is to make sure that boats entering and exiting lakes and streams are inspected.
“If a problem with an AIS is found, it must be decontaminated,” said Clark.
She said water-related activities are a $50 billion business in the state. “The point being, if we don’t address the issue of these invasive species, we’ll lose the quality of these lakes,” said Clark.
Clark said she is a past president of the Minnesota Coalition of Lakes and Streams and Minnesota Lakes and Streams Advocates. She said these groups have been studying the issue. She said it has been found that the most effective use of money to control AIS is inspection and decontamination. She spoke of the experiences of other counties such as Hubbard and Becker and how AIS had spread from lakes along the I94 and Highway 10 corridor, from boats coming from Lake Minnetonka to the Detroit Lakes and now Brainerd lakes areas.
“The most prevalent way the problem—AIS—is spread is boats. DNR’s education programs, I’m sorry to say, just don’t work,” Clark said.
Clark said from the data collected, it is known that only a few boats are inspected and those that are show that they have not been decontaminated.
“We are in a position to be able to get a handle on watercraft coming into this county and leaving this county and we’re in a better position than any other county in the state,” said Clark.
Clark said she and Berg had a good talk about it and said they would like to put together an AIS task force, much like the terrestrial group, with a designated leader or lead agency and a focused group working to address the issue.
Commissioner Garry Gamble said he appreciated what Clark and Berg bring to the community and he agreed it was a good idea to pull together knowledgeable people to study the issue.
He noted that it seems that the best solution is simply to be there, to complete inspections. He said, “The component of education only works to the extent that everyone accepts the responsibility. If that does not happen, that means there has to be oversight. And that’s why the inspection makes people accountable.”
“Ultimately, what I think we would be seeing here is a training program for inspectors. That can be done with the assistance of the DNR and it would not cost the county a penny,” said Clark.
She said the experience of other counties shows that someone has to put a plan together though. “The commissioners, however, need to make someone responsible for the program very soon and that would be in the form of a resolution,” said Clark.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson said a resolution should not be made at this time as the discussion had been listed on the agenda as “information only.”
Commissioner Gamble agreed but said the commissioners need more information to make an informed decision on whether or not to accept the grant funds. He said he would like that information to come forward from such a group that could come to the county board with a recommendation.
Commissioner Martinson suggested that the board leave the matter with Administrator Jay Kieft. Martinson asked Kieft and Berg to work together to form a group that could bring a plan to commissioners at a future meeting.
Leave a Reply