AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine has more than 6,000 lakes and ponds, and invasive species pose a threat to those aquatic environments. Fighting the spread of invasive species in the state is not only a big task but an expensive one.
This past legislative session, a bill that would have provided millions of dollars failed. However, a different bill to generate funds another way survived.
LD 2141 would have infused $2 million into a fund managed by the DEP to help manage some of the most serious outbreaks related to aquatic invasive species, Director of Advocacy for Maine Audubon Francesca Gundrum said.
Colin Holme, the executive director of Lakes Environmental Association, said the bill was about taking a closer look at the problem.
"[It] was all about re-examining the prevention mechanisms and putting a surge of funding into control work which is expensive," Holme said.
It failed to pass, but not all was lost with the approval of LD 1342.
"That bill increased the lake and river protection fee that funds the Maine DEP and IFW," Holme said.
Even though there will be funding to combat invasive species, the road ahead is still expensive.
"The cost of addressing an outbreak far outweighs the cost of preventing the spread of the species plant or animal," Gundrum said.
Environmental organizations will continue to protect the state's waterways and advocate in the fight against invasive species.
"Every lake that we prevent these species from getting is hundreds of thousands of dollars we saved for taxpayers, for boaters, for people who live in the community, and for the wildlife," Holme said.
In-state and out-of-state boaters in Maine are required to display a lake and river protection sticker for all motorized boats. A sticker is not required, however, for boats operated in tidal waters. Click here for more information about the stickers, including cost and where they can be obtained.
Boaters are urged to clean, drain, and dry their boats and check to make sure no plants are hitching a ride.