Region 1: EPA New England
Fighting The Spread of Invasive Species in New Hampshire
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
ME | NH |
By Robert W. Varney and
Nancy Christie
September 9, 2003
Newspaper headlines across New England tell the story: “Alien invaders take over lake”; "Marine life gone bad: Scientists inventory invaders"; "Foreign earthworms threaten forest health"
No. This is not from your supermarket tabloids. Every week newspapers in New Hampshire, New England and across the country are reporting on invasive animals and plants being introduced to areas where they did not exist before, and how they threaten native ecology.
Like all New England states, New Hampshire is suffering from an invasion of these plant and animal species into its landscape and coastal waters. More than 50 water bodies in the central and southern parts of the state are infested with invasive aquatic plants, such as variable leaf milfoil, fanwort and water chestnut. Plants such as purple loosestrife, common reed and glossy buckthorn dominate many acres of the state's freshwater marshes and forested wetlands in these areas.
Once invasive species are introduced, managing and controlling them is a significant challenge. That's why the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) is spearheading an effort to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species.
Last year, DES issued a Report of the New Hampshire Exotic Aquatic Species Program. This multi-year plan focuses on five areas: preventing new infestations through education; detecting new infestations early through monitoring; controlling existing infestations; researching new control methods; and cooperating with other exotic species programs in the region and nation.
As a key part of this effort, "The Weed Watcher Program" recruits volunteers to monitor water bodies in their communities and report suspicious plants to DES for immediate identification. In 2001, more than 160 trained Weed Watchers monitored about 80 bodies of water. DES is also active in regional groups and organizations to forge partnerships and develop a uniform message about invasive species.
Invasive species are a concern for a number of reasons. They generally lack predators or other natural controls and can tolerate a wide variety of environmental conditions, which allows them to easily establish self-sustaining populations. Once established, invasive species threaten the natural diversity and abundance of native species, as well as the stability of entire ecosystems. Native species lose in the competition for habitat, breeding sites and food. As a result, food webs are destroyed. And, lastly, the economic consequences can be severe.
Of the 14 species of invasive plants now outlawed in New Hampshire, eight can be found in the state. Among the most common, the variable-leaf milfoil and the fanwort can grow as tall as 15 feet high.
Smallmouth and largemouth bass, invasive fish species in many lakes and ponds, are widely established through mostly illegal introductions. One of these illegal stockings was at Umbagog Lake in the upper Androscoggin River drainage area, where they now threaten one of the nation's premier wild brook trout populations. In addition, the green crab, a marine species introduced to coastal waters in the mid-1800s, suppresses economically valuable clam populations.
Invasive species can be spread many ways. Untreated biological waste from agricultural, seafood and other food processing facilities can carry foreign organisms. Ballast water from ships often introduces new marine species. Contamination through the nursery trade can also lead to introductions of new and invasive species.
Invasive plants can also be carried between water bodies by boats and trailers. For this reason, many boaters were greeted at boat launches this summer by local "Lake Hosts" – people on duty to check for nuisance invasive plants before boats were launched. Lake hosts were stationed at more than 40 lakes this summer to provide courtesy inspections and educate boaters on how to prevent the spread of exotic species. The New Hampshire Lakes Association coordinated this effort which this year alone resulted in eight lakes being ‘saved’ from potential introductions of exotic plants.
This country spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year to control aquatic invasive species. Money is most wisely spent on prevention since once an invasive species takes hold, it is virtually impossible to eliminate it. Consider these figures:
- Controlling invasive species costs $200 to $2,000 per lake-acre each year.
- New Hampshire is spending more than $100,000 annually on control projects in about 10 lakes. This expenditure barely addresses public demand for control projects on the more than 50 lakes already suffering from infestations.
- According to a UNH study, infestations can adversely affect recreational and aesthetic values of the state's surface waters, decreasing shore-front property values by as much as 16 percent.
With summer coming to a close, we all need to realize that preventing invasive species will require hard work. State, local and federal governments must play a leading role in identifying and preventing the spread of invasive species. But government personnel alone cannot patrol every lake and waterway. Many lake associations and nonprofit groups are already doing a great job assisting in monitoring, educating and controlling invasive species. But we need to expand these grassroots efforts so that more lake associations, more boaters, more fishermen and more citizen volunteers can act as our 'eyes' and 'ears' to catch and control these threats as early as possible. Let's all work together!
Robert W. Varney is regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's New England Office. Nancy Christie is president
of the New Hampshire Lakes Association. For more information about
New Hampshire's invasive aquatic species program, visit the NH DES
web site at www.des.state.nh.us/wmb/exoticspecies
