Lewis Creek Association Wraps Up Year Two of Invasive Species Removal
by Mollie Wills
August 26, 2010, page 8.....

The Lewis Creek Association has completed its second year of European frogbit removal in Town Farm Bay. European frogbit are free-floating invasive aquatic plants that resemble small water lilies. Frogbit is known to degrade bay and wetland ecosystems and has begun to have a significant impact on the recreation and habitat qualities of Town Farm Bay. Efforts to study and remove the aquatic invasive were doubled in 2010 from the 2009 season. Removal methods are being developed and noticeable improvements are now being observed in the Thorp and Kimball wetland complex. Avid hunter and fisherman, Bradley Carleton of Champlain Valley Guide, notes, “I spent a good portion of my weekend in the Kimball Thorp bay examining the frogbit collection efforts and the water level as it relates to local duck populations that require the native vegetation. It appears to me that your crew did an exceptional job with it this year.”
Field crew members and community volunteers combined forces to remove almost 56,000 pounds of frogbit this season, the equivalent of almost 28 tons. This would not have been possible without the able help of Steve Gutowski and the rest of the staff at Point Bay Marina. Gutowski generously donated much time and energy to emptying the frogbit “scow,” a floating dock that field crew members and volunteers, used to store harvested frogbit. Use of the scow saved workers the lengthy process of paddling to shore and dumping picked frogbit.
A big thanks to all the project volunteers who have collectively donated over 250 hours to the project and to the generous sponsors of this long-term restoration program, including the Vemont Agency of Natural Resources, The Kelsey Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Town of Shelburne, Town of Charlotte, Lake Champlain Basin Program and the many friends of Lewis Creek Association.
The Lewis Creek Association is currently looking for long-term volunteer caretakers to help educate about prevention measures while maintaining frogbit populations in discreet areas of the Thorp and Kimball wetland habitat area of Town Farm Bay. If you or your community group are interested, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Sue Smith at ssmith@gmavt.net.
If you are interested in picking up composted frogbit for use as mulch on your fields or gardens, please contact Project Coordinator Mollie Wills at molliewills@gmail.com.