Near and present danger.
2006
Variable-leaf milfoil was first reported in Long Lake in 2006.
Lake Environmental Association provides resources and best practices to help eradication Long Lake's milfoil invasion.
2017
Environmentalists are working to remove and stop the spreading of an estimated half an acre of milfoil found in Long Lake earlier this month. Milfoil has reportedly infested the neighboring Brandy Pond and the Songo River for years but was found growing in Long Lake, which had been thought to be safe from the plant.
Variable-leaf milfoil will be removed from Long Lake by the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (PSCAWI) with funds awarded to PSCAWI by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. PSCAWI utilized a five-person control team consisting of four divers and one top-water support person. The divers remove the milfoil by hand using proven techniques developed by PSCAWI over the last 15 years. The Long Lake Association (LLA), in collaboration with the Town of Long Lake staff, will bring the harvested milfoil to the Long Lake Transfer Station for composting. The control team will return again for ten more weeks in 2018 to complete removal.
2018
Addie Casali followed her instincts and likely saved Long Lake from an invasive plant attack. An inspector with LEA for the past two summers, Addie encountered a boat from Lake Champlain on the last Saturday in July launching into Long Lake in Harrison. She knew Lake Champlain is a hot spot for invasive aquatic species.
During her inspection, Addie found plants wrapped around the propeller of the boat. The long plant fragments were dried out and hard to identify but, because of the likely origin of the plant, Addie determined that she should treat it as “suspicious” and bring it to the LEA office.
“When we first received the plant at LEA, we immediately established that it was a species of milfoil. Even dried out, we could see that the plant had feathery leaves, a clear indication that it was suspicious. Upon rehydrating, we could tell that Addie had removed Eurasian milfoil from the boat,” said Mary Jewett, teacher/naturalist with LEA. “This is a highly-invasive species and we are lucky that Addie found it. Eurasian milfoil has been confirmed in only two waterbodies in Maine, and is much more aggressive than the invasive variable leaf milfoil already present in over thirty lakes and ponds.”
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