Paul Smith’s College Looking to Extend Boat Launch Steward Coverage into the Fall to Further Protect Adirondack Lakes from Harmful Invasive Species

AWI Boat Wash — Boat and trailer decontamination takes less than 15 minutes and is free. It is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of invasive species. (Photo provided by Adirondack Watershed Institute.)

Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) is seeking people to work as boat inspectors and decontamination technicians at boat launches across the Adirondacks to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species in the region’s waterways.

“We have a network of boat inspection and boat wash stations that have been strategically located across the region to control the spread of these harmful organisms”, said Dan Kelting, executive director of AWI. “We are hiring employees now to work through the fall to help us protect our waterways.”

AWI works closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Lake Champlain Basin Program and the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program to deploy stewards at these carefully selected locations that are based on a number of risk factors such as proximity to busy road corridors, existing invasive species populations, uninvaded lakes, and waterways that are popular recreation destinations. Inspection and wash station locations can be found at adkcleanboats.com.

“The recent labor shortage, a busier than normal tourist season, and the scarce housing in our communities have made it difficult for us to maintain consistent level of staffing this year at most of our 60+ boat inspection and boat wash stations across the region”, said Kelting. “It is critical that we maintain operations at as many locations in this network as possible in order to manage the risk of invasive species spreading from one waterbody to another.”

People interested in working full time or part time as a Watershed Steward or Decontamination Technician can find more information at adkwatershed.org/employment.

The mission of the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute is to protect clean water, conserve habitat and support the health and well-being of the people in the Adirondacks through science, collaboration, and real-world experiences for students.

The Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) is a component of Paul Smith's College (PSC). The program started in 1989 as a local-scale water quality monitoring program called the Adirondack Aquatic Institute (AAI) and expanded in 1999 to include invasive species management. PSC started the Watershed Stewardship Program (WSP) in 2000 as a separate initiative that focused on local-scale invasive species prevention activities. These two programs expanded over the years as separate efforts, in 2002 the college recognized the synergy of linking these programs and thus merged them to begin the AWI. The AWI has since grown into a regional-scale water quality monitoring and invasive species management program.

The mission of the Adirondack Watershed Institute is to protect clean water, conserve habitat and support the health and well-being of people in the Adirondacks through scientific inquiry, stewardship and real world experiences for students.