Boat inspection starts Memorial Day weekend

PAUL SMITHS | The Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) will launch its 2022 season on Memorial Day weekend, as AWI stewards offer free boat inspection and washing at more than 60 boat launches and roadside locations throughout the Adirondacks. Each year, AWI hires between 100 and 130 seasonal stewards. After rigorous training, they share that knowledge with boaters, anglers, and other visitors. The program relies on the boating public to adopt the "Clean, Drain, Dry" standard required by New York State's regulations to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. The prevention network places stewards at popular and high-risk launches and along travel corridors across northern New York. Stewards operate at some of the busiest spots in the region, including Lake Placid, Great Sacandaga, and Lake Champlain. Lake stewards also safeguard smaller and more-remote waterbodies, like those found in the St. Regis Canoe Area, where invasive species introduction is high because organisms can easily spread from lake to lake. In March, AWI welcomed Bill Brosseau as its new Stewardship Program Director. Before joining AWI, Brosseau was the Conservation Director with EarthCorps, a conservation corps focused on ecological restoration in the Pacific Northwest. He has also held various leadership roles with the Adirondack Mountain Club. The boat inspection and decontamination stations are cooperatively funded by New York State's Environmental Protection Fund, USEPA-Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Lake Champlain Basin Program, numerous lake associations, private foundations, and municipalities. Information about inspection and decontamination station locations, aquatic invasive species ecology, and steps the public can take to maintain the quality of New York's waterways are available at adkwatershed.org/boat-wash-stations.

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Boat inspection starts Memorial Day weekend

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