I know this week’s title is a bit extreme but keep reading and I believe you will understand how serious this can be. There is an aquatic plant growing in our Northwoods lakes that is getting out of control. This aggressive vegetation is called MYRIOPHYLLUM SPICATUM or commonly known as EURASIAN WATERMILFOIL. This water weed was first found as early as the late 1800s in Europe, Asia and North Africa and discovered in the United States in the 1940s, then started to spread across 48 states and into Canada. Then Eurasian Watermilfoil first appeared in our Wisconsin lakes in the 1960s and today many of our lakes are being overtaken by this killer plant.

If you’re not familiar with or haven’t heard of this pond weed and don’t understand why it is bad for our lake environment, here’s why. Come spring, this Eurasian Watermilfoil can grow 2 inches a day and reach 3 to 7 feet. This aquatic plant starts growing earlier than our lakes native plants and will block sunlight that kills the native vegetation. Once established, it becomes a thick matted aquatic plant that not only causes decreased oxygen levels but chokes out habitat that fish rely on for cover and food and that’s mostly why your favorite fishing spots that produced many meals does not hold fish anymore. And that is a fact.

Can we remove this killer from our lakes? Some say it can be removed, I say our lakes will never be rid of this plant, but it can certainly be slowed and/or controlled to an extent. There are a few methods of how this lake killer can be managed. Those being herbicides, cutting blades, lake rakes or pulling these weeds by hand, but with all of these methods, fragments can/will escape and start new plants. The last one involves using insects (WEEVIL) that no one knows how these bugs will affect other plants, so this is being researched. (Does anyone remember years ago, the DNR supposably brought in flies to counteract caterpillars? Well from what I can recall, it didn’t work well). Any and all of these methods above are costly and, in my opinion, will not totally rid our lakes of this plant because of the FRAGMENTS of Eurasian Watermilfoil being left behind. Plus, boat motors and even wakes from boats can break off pieces of this vicious plant and produce new roots in other areas.

But it is possible WE ALL could help by taking the time to do a few small things that I believe we can at lease slow the spread of Eurasian Watermilfoil. This plant produces around 100 seeds a season, but the primary reason this species spreads to other lakes is because of the FRAGMENTS of this vegetation being removed from one lake to another. How do these fragments get into new lakes? Mostly by transporting watercrafts from one lake to another. How can we slow this from happening?  When taking ANY watercraft out of a lake, remove ALL VEGETATION (even native plants) from jet skis, boats, boat motors, trailers, anchors, dock ropes, drain livewells, run the bilge pump, and/or remove drain plug from the boat at the boat ramp or in an area close to the ramp before leaving.

Here is something you might have seen at a boat ramp and didn’t take advantage of. I know there are folks stationed at SOME BOAT RAMPS in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s U.P. that will power wash your boat and trailer to remove invasive species that are left on your equipment at no charge, and I will tell you, this DOES HELP.  If you do see a person that will power wash your boat/trailer, please give them a big thank you and a tip wouldn’t hurt either. I mean, come on, your boat just got washed for free. By doing all this I mentioned above stop spreading Eurasian Watermilfoil? Maybe not, but again, it does help and will definitely slow the spread of this lake killer.