XI. Conclusions

The Barnes 2005 EWM Project was monumental in scope for a volunteer-type project. However, those responsible for the development and accomplishment of the project felt optimistic that with the numbers of landowners, property owners associations, other interested groups, and with the backing of the Town of Barnes (the applicant) and Town of Highland, that the project could indeed be completed.

Success of the project came as the result of many people being concerned about the future of not only their' lake, but of those in the region. The problem of EWM infestation is indeed a community problem, and as the Ad Hoc Committee promoted from the start, that it requires a community solution.

• 281 volunteers contributed their time and effort, a community responded by attending numerous programs, training sessions, and awareness promotions about the concerns about EWM and other aquatic invasive species.
• an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crew of employees along with the project coordinator met the challenges of the Aquatic Plant Survey.
• a dedicated and hard-working Ad Hoc Committee had the commitment and desire to plan the project, develop the grant proposal, oversee the project as it was being accomplished, and prepare a large portion of the final report. This project would never have been done without them all.
• a concerned community and the Town of Barnes officials supported the project from its beginnings in September of 2004 through to its conclusion in December of 2005.

Unfortunately, however, the 2005 Barnes EWM Project is just the beginning of a long-range association with EWM and its problems and costs. The 2005 Project is Phase 1 of a continued effort to deal with EWM. Phase 1 is the inventory stage that fortunately found no additional EWM in the other 25 lakes of the project. Only Tomahawk and Sandbar were known to have EWM. No EWM was found in the Aquatic Plant Survey but that does not guarantee that EWM is not there. The survey did not, nor could not, survey every square foot of our lakes, and all it takes is a small segment of EWM attached to a boat or trailer and an infestation can start.

The effort shown by the Town and the volunteers needs to continue. EWM is with us and will continue to threaten other lakes and the uses people make of them. Until an effective eradication method is found or developed EWM will be here. Methods of control have been and are being used, but nothing, as yet, is known to completely rid a lake of EWM.

An extremely important and often overlooked way to prevent the establishment of AIS is to keep native vegetation in place.! Invasives thrive on disturbance.! That's why the first place we often see them are at boat landings, beaches, and around piers (think Tomahawk Lake!).! People may not realize that although they don't like "weeds" along their shores, when they remove them, they are opening up the door for aggressive invaders.! Educating shoreline property owners and the general public for that matter about the importance of native vegetation protection should be an emphasis in future Information and Education (I&E) efforts.!

• another Ad Hoc Committee be assembled to take the lead in developing a long-range plan to address the EWM issues of the area.
• an EWM control project for Sandbar and Tomahawk to minimize the problem there and to keep EWM from spreading.;
  Note: Control Grant Planning requirements are described in NR 198 the Administrative Code for Aquatic Invasive Species grants, which can be found on the Internet at: http://folio.legis.state.wi.us/cgibin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=35921383&infobase=code.nfo&j1=198&jump=198&softpage =Browse_Frame_Pg!
  NR 198.43 also lists what specifically is required for plan eligibility for control grants. (See appendix 8 for pdf file of NR 198.)
• a continued educational and awareness program, such as that conducted in the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program; and
• a short and long-term monitoring plan to be able to catch any infestation early on, at a point in time where control is more effective.

Continued support in terms of dedicated people, grants, matching funds, volunteers, and individuals keeping watch, along with a boating public to do their part in stopping the spread of this invasive plant, will all contribute to a successful program to keep EWM from becoming a severe problem effecting us all.