Hydrilla Hunt on Cayuga Lake (October 20th)!!
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URGENT!
Take part in the Hydrilla Hunt on October 20!
Cayuga Lake’s East and West Shore to be Surveyed for Hydrilla – Local Help Needed
A new infestation of hydrilla was discovered along the east shore of Cayuga Lake onSeptember 13. To learn the full extent of hydrilla’s presence around the lake, a Hydrilla Hunt has been organized. Lakeside residents and communities are asked to help by collecting suspicious plant samples and bringing them to two collection stations on the east or west shore, on Thursday October 20, between 3:30 and 6:00 pm.
Collection Station Locations
East shore, Aurora: Entrance to Long Point State Park, 2063 Lake Rd. Aurora, NY 13026.
West shore, Sheldrake: Boat launch loop at the end of Route 139/Sheldrake Point Road, Ovid NY.
Collecting a sample
Look for hydrilla along the shoreline, around your dock, and offshore in deeper water (up to 30 feet deep) where it will be floating at the surface. Gather 5 inch samples of plants that you think may be hydrilla. It is ok to mingle several different samples together in a plastic baggie – the experts will sort them out.
What happens after samples are dropped off
Each sample will be provided with a label identifying the location it was collected and the name and contact information of the collector, so that they can be notified once the plant is identified by an expert. The plant will be disposed of appropriately.
Alternatives to dropping off a sample in person
If you cannot come in person, please fill out the form at the www.StopHydrilla.org website. Click on the front page link to “Report Hydrilla Suspects.” Include a photo of the plant if possible.
How to identify hydrilla
At www.StopHydrilla.org, click on “How to identify hydrilla”. Hydrilla identification materials will be available at the collection stations on October 20.
Hydrilla Hunter I.D. Kit dispensers can be found at thirty-one locations around the lake, at launches, marinas, the state parks, and in town and village offices. Please contact Hilary Lambert, ste...@cayugalake.org , for the full list, or to request that a Hydrilla Hunter I.D. Kit be mailed to you. If you think it might be hydrilla, bag it and bring it! (and remember where you found it!)
Please help!
Hydrilla hunting by local residents is needed to supplement the expert research.
The official survey boats can only check a small percentage of the lake’s 90 miles of shoreline between now and when the plant goes back into hiding on the lake’s bottom for the winter. We need to be ready to deal with it when it pops back up, spreading further, next year. Please help NOW with the Hydrilla Hunt.
For more information contact:
Hilary Lambert, Steward, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Aurora
Email: ste...@cayugalake.org Phone: 607-319-0475
Michele Wunderlich, Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development
Email: mwund...@cayugacounty.us Phone: 315-253-1107
Hilary Mosher, FL PRISM at the Finger Lakes Institute, Geneva
Email: mos...@hws.edu Phone: 315-781-4385
James Balyszak, Hydrilla Program Manager, Ithaca
Email: stophy...@gmail.com Phone: 607-254-1715