Pelican lake NO INSPECTORS?

[BisoNation]

Ok. So last weekend I was on Pelican Lake, went thru the southeast access 3 different times with my buddy's boat.

guess what! not 1 inspector or local person there, not 1. People driving right out, not even touching live wells, plugs etc... i was sick.

Your lake is going to affect the rest of ottertail counties lake and its talk that no one was there at an infested lake.

/end rant.

[Reno]

Sad...plus they had the Sailboat thing...

Steve

[mwal]

The Zebra Mussel velgiers are almost microscopic and can free float or attach to anything including aquatic birds feet or feathers. The zebras will continue to spread regardless of boat inspections or lack thereof. Unless yo steam clean the whole boat and sanitize the water in the frame of trailer, rim of tires backing etc there is a potential to transport the velgiers which are the size of this . I am sure you or the inspector can see that little bugger. I am not familiar with the lake you are on but does it have creeks running in or Out? can it flood in high water to ditches that drain elsewhere? if so it will spread. I am not trying to be Debi downer but nature will spread these invasive s on her own. Look at dandelions. A few dutch settlers in New York brought some over and they spread over a continent on there own. A few House sparrow, Starlings and common pigeons, rats, stowaway on ships and spread across a continent. Thanks to some organic Framers looking to kill aphids they bought some asian ladybugs now we do not have native ladybugs. Nature has a way of spreading stuff.

Mwal

[JCHiggins]

Your last sentence is telling. Nature doesn't spread any of this stuff. If nature did, they would be native, hence the definition of "native". Ignorant, careless humans spread these invasives, and we need to do everything we can to stop our ignorant, careless behaviors, before we destroy these areas that we love. Nuff said

[JCHiggins]

Sorry, but you really got me going, do you think that if birds transfer these things, that they wouldn't have gotten here tens of thousands of years before now? European settlement was only a few hundred years ago, we are responsible and we need to take accountability and try to mitigate some of our ignorance. I for one do not want to sit back and let our ignorance destroy our ecosystem. We may not be able to stop the degradation, but if we can slow it down enough for the future generations, I think my kids and their kids will appreciate our efforts. I would really hate to see zebras take over in my lifetime, not to mention my kids and grandkids. Maybe we will discover the technology to combat these critters, but I don't want to wait and see.

[eyeguy 54]

Nature will find a way... Didn't you watch Jurassic Park??

[JCHiggins]

I've made a conscious decision not to visit a different lake with my boat or trailer for at least 3 weeks, because of the dangers of transfer of water which you so aptly described. I can only hope that other fisherman and water enthusiasts will consider similar strategies, for the next generations.

[B-man715]

I do the DNR dance at every boat landing, but I truly feel it is too little...... too late.....or even doesn't matter at all.

Our entire existence is based on survival of the fittest. If an alien plant or animal can thrive in a new ecosystem, it will.

As humans we try to "play god" and manipulate the plants and animals to what we see is "fit". But the elk are not thriving in MN or WI, the moose are disappearing, the wolves have thrived, buckthorn is on the rise etc, etc...... nature will find a balance, even if we don't agree with it.

[minneman]

In responce to the 1st post, I personaly think If there are a limited number of "inspectors" Id prefer that they be at lakes that dont have zeebs yet.

Stop it before entering a non infested lake

[Tadpoletodd]

It’s understandable that folks are passionate and get dogmatic talking about this. I’ll try not and do that myself. A little humility would go a long ways.

I believe we all need to be a bit more objective. We cannot say with absolute certainty that ZM’s are transferred any particular way or not – can’t do it. We can have our own personal theories and opinions about that – but that’s all they are. Research and reports can be found to defend just about any position.

One truth is, we do know ZM’s are very small and it is reasonable to say that they, if conditions were right, could probably get attached to just about anything - natural or unnatural - that goes into infested water and then back out. We can make educated guesses that certain things are spreading them more than others and then try and combat that with certain measures and reasonable and non-intrusive regulations, etc. At the end of the day, regulations are basically lost freedoms – some are necessary, others are not. Pulling a plug and draining a live well – most would agree that’s reasonable. Raising dollars and having a manned decontamination station or saying a watercraft is restricted from going into another lake for a certain amount of time – most would say that’s unreasonable. I think we have to think about what we’re saying when we say we need to do everything possible to try and stop them for the next generation. That sounds compassionate and like the right thing – but I wonder how wise that really is. Regulations cost States and ultimately individuals a lot of money. So, I just think we better know the facts much better than anyone here seems to before we regulate, raise taxes and loose another little chunk of liberty.

My 2 cents…that’s all it is.