FBR Hosts Speaker on “Project RED: A Paddle With a Purpose”

On Wednesday, June 9th , at 7PM in the CCU Community room, Friends of the Black River will host Laura McFarland, coordinator of “Project RED” or “Riverine Early Detectors”. The program enlists and trains volunteers to detect invasive species in Wisconsin waterways. Laura will identify and explain the threats posed by these plant and animal invaders. She will explain the Project RED program and how citizen volunteers can help.

The program “encourages you to paddle with a purpose and help protect our river corridors from invasion of horrors such as the dreaded “Rock Snot” (aka Didymo).”  Aquatic and terrestrial invasive species such as the New Zealand mud snail, zebra mussel, purple loosestrife, and others are slipping undetected through the blue cracks in our maps – our rivers.  Invasive species threaten the biodiversity of our rivers and can make paddling or fishing less enjoyable. Invasives also use rivers as dispersal corridors spreading throughout a watershed, from one lake or wetland to the next.  Species, such as Japanese knotweed, can spread as high spring flows carry rhizomes or live vegetative matter that can resprout when deposited on fertile floodplains downstream. 

Early detection of an infestation in or along a river can allow the containment or eradication of an invasive before it is too late.  Monitoring these systems can be difficult for those that do not frequently romp between riverbanks as we do.  That is why the River Alliance of Wisconsin and local watershed groups throughout Wisconsin are calling all river enthusiasts (paddlers, anglers, etc.) and riparian landowners to help detect invasive species. 

In 2008 the River Alliance of Wisconsin, a statewide nonprofit organization, conducted a one-year pilot project to test whether paddlers in canoes and kayaks could detect four easily identified invasive plant species along the banks of a river: purple loosestrife, Japanese hops, Japanese knotweed, and common reed grass.  The Alliance worked with several volunteer groups to monitor over 50 miles of streambanks detecting several new infestations.

The pilot evolved into Project RED (Riverine Early Detectors), early detection and rapid response being the objective. The number of invasive species of concern was increased to 15, including plants and animals along the streambank and in the water. In partnership with WDNR and the National Institute for Invasive Species Science (NIISS), River Alliance has offered five free workshops throughout Wisconsin to train volunteers to identify and report these 15 species in their home waters.

Join Friends of the Black River at the Coop Credit Union’s Community Room at 7 PM on Wednesday, June 9th, to hear about this successful project and the invasive species it addresses. The meeting is free and the public is invited.

For more information or if you have suggestions for future speakers or events, contact FBR.