Aquatic Invasive Species (A.I.S.) vs. MEDIA RANT!

Why does the Media & the A.I.S. Activists (or so called A.I.S. Experts) always say they are Inspecting for Zebra Mussels when inspecting or talking about boat & trailer inspections?

Unless your boat sits moored in infested for a week or more, the likelihood of finding a Zebra Mussel attached to your boat is virtually NIL! Your watercraft would have to sit in an infested water with Veligers/Zebra Mussel Larvae present for I believe 5 or more days for a Veliger to attach to your watercraft. Then it would need to stay damp/wet for quite a period in order for the Veliger to grow into an adult Zebra Mussel, they need lots of water.

When we see these Media staff/journalists questioning and reporting on A.I.S., we should set the record straight with them. They are not really inspecting for Zebra Mussels, but rather for water that Larvae could be supported or they are looking for weeds (Weeds themselves could be another form of A.I.S.) or other items the Zebra mussels could be attached to be transported to another lake.

They keep putting the impression in every IGNORANT Persons mind that every watercraft is harboring A.I.S. &/or Zebra Mussels and that they’ll find Zebra Mussels.

In reality without a Microscope and a vial of water containing Veliger’s, you’ll have approx. a 0% chance of finding a Zebra Mussel on a watercraft that hops lake to lake if that watercraft is pulled out of the lake at the end of each day. Now, if they happened to miss finding a stem of a weed stuck someplace under the waterline on your watercraft or trailer, they may find a Zebra Mussel attached to the weed.

Just my rant for the weekend after seeing so many News/Propaganda clips about A.I.S. & Zebra Mussels over the last few weeks. Most of the Journalists haven’t a CLUE about the real world and we need to teach them before they corrupt more minds and drive public perception against us.

The people/watercraft they should be targeting are the ones left docked/moored in knowingly infested waters for a week or more.

Now, let’s get out and go fishing and educating.

Since the whole EDNA snaffu, they have nothing else to talk about??

The gun debate has quieted down a bit so the media needed something else to vilify.

ALL boat owners are now guilty just like anyone that owns a black rifle is guilty.

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The gun debate has quieted down a bit so the media needed something else to vilify.

ALL boat owners are now guilty just like anyone that owns a black rifle is guilty.

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In all of today’s hot topics, the one that should be looked at the closest is the changing of the 1st Amendment. The media today will grab on to any topic filled with menace and blow it completely out of proportion.

I watched during the hurricane on the east coast as very nicely dressed reports were sticking their mikes in the faces of those hit the hardest. Why weren’t they in coveralls and helping clean things up? In Moore, Oklahoma…..same thing. The list goes on with natural disasters.

The media caters to people who haven’t a clue about some issues but who need to be on someone’s bandwagon even if its being pulled by a dead horse.

If the media were forced to be legally accountable for the content of their reporting things would be reported much different from how it is done today. If the media could NOT report on conjecture or theory or opinion and had to use only verifiable FACTS, reporting would be different from what we see today.

I’m convinced that if every one of us on this site were to contact our federal legislators and insist on them re-writing the 1st Amendment to say that they can write or say anything as long as it is the certain truth and that they cannot hide sources of information any longer, perhaps the media, all media, would have something more urgent to write about than AIS speculation.

Imagine the media having to agrue for their rights instead of “needing” to inflame uninformed citizenry with articles about gun control. I’ll bet ais issues would be sitting back in the trunk until things settled down.

The media is a business. There only goal is to make money not help us. To the contrary they more often than not hurt us just to make money. Boycott them like I do.

You are right, especially with the part where we need to correct them when they are not passing along the facts. It doesn’t do anyone any good if people think a proper inspection is to look for barnacle like clams on your boat and trailer.

To that end, they should ditch the marketing phrase “Aquatic Hitchhikers”. Hitchhikers implies that they are actively trying to attach themselves or hop on board as a stow away on your boat. We know when man spreads them it is man’s fault, not the invasive. Man was careless, lazy, naive or as in pointed out in this thread, misinformed.

Good call Carroll

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The media is a business. There only goal is to make money not help us. To the contrary they more often than not hurt us just to make money. Boycott them like I do.

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ALL boat owners are now guilty just like anyone that owns a black rifle is guilty.

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What if we own both?

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What if we own both?

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They cancel each other out. You’re good to go.

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What if we own both?

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They cancel each other out. You’re good to go.

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Oh, good. I was afraid that it was the other way around and that if my black rifle ever got too close to the boat, it would cause the gates to hell to open up in my driveway.

I don’t always have a lot to comment, but I sure love reading posts on IDO. You guys crack me up and I love the variety of opinions!

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I don’t always have a lot to comment

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^^^Thanks…DAD.

Not to change the subject but if the media and or dnr want to try to make a difference. Invest all the money they are wasting A.I.S and zebra mussels. And figure out how to stop grecian foxglove. It has killed all the horses around my parents house. When I grew up in the early 90’s there were horse farms all around us, then horses started to die and now I don’t think there is a horse within a mile of there house.My dad has called the dnr and picks hundreds of plants each summer and they do nothing about it! This plant is toxic to animals if ingested and apparently horses like how it tastes. Yet they feel A.I.S and zeebs are more important.

Are these plants growing on private land?

They are all over, not alot of public land around where my parents live in may township. My father pulls plants on all the neighbors land because he is about the only one who care about it. It can be toxic and fatal to people yet you never hear about it. Just A.I.S and zeebs!

I don’t mean any disrespect, but I just don’t see the DNR putting effort into a private land issue. Maybe you should call and tell them it is killing the deer.

I was raised, as I imagine so many of you were, on the concept of stewardship. We have a responsibility to leave our natural world in better shape than we found it, for the next generation.

Invasive species and global warming are very real threats to the natural world that we all hike, hunt & fish in. I know my life would be pretty empty without the peace and beauty of the woods, lakes and mountains.

All we can do is to get involved in protecting it…be the change you want to see in the world.

All the other bloated & paranoid nonsense is just a distraction. It all rings hollow.

Global what? You mean climate change?

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I was raised, as I imagine so many of you were, on the concept of stewardship. We have a responsibility to leave our natural world in better shape than we found it, for the next generation.

Invasive species and global warming are very real threats to the natural world that we all hike, hunt & fish in. I know my life would be pretty empty without the peace and beauty of the woods, lakes and mountains.

All we can do is to get involved in protecting it…be the change you want to see in the world.

All the other bloated & paranoid nonsense is just a distraction. It all rings hollow.

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Is it Really Global Warming? Is it really caused by Man or just part of God’s ultimate plan and part of the natural cycle of life on this planet we call “EARTH”?

I’d like to see the real proof that any if really true Global Warming is being caused by man.

Looking back at many years of data and research that I’ve seen, these scientists cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that we are really in a period of Global Warming and that it is being caused by man and not simply part of the Earth’s natural process and evolution.

Just One Volcano BLAST put more particulate and CO2 in the Atmosphere that mankind has in hundreds of years. Multiply that by the number of Volcanic Eruptions over the last 50 years.

Just remember what happened back when Mt. St. Helen’s blew her side of the mountain off back 33 years ago, May 18, 1980.

Explore Mount St Helens…Discover Ecosystems in Action
At 8:32 Sunday Morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens Erupted
Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River.
The avalanche rapidly released pressurized gases within the volcano. A tremendous lateral explosion ripped through the avalanche and developed into a turbulent, stone-filled wind that swept over ridges and toppled trees. Nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing.
At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. Wet, cement-like slurries of rock and mud scoured all sides of the volcano. Searing flows of pumice poured from the crater. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments.
A vast, gray landscape lay where once the forested slopes of Mount St. Helens grew. In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Mt. St. Helen’s U.S.D.A. site link

Zebra Mussel’s and other A.I.S. are just another piece in the whole cycle of evolution and change. Yes, I agree, much of the AIS problem is man-made and we should all do our part to prevent further spread of any Invasive Specie.

The problem many of us on this site and others have with the Inspections and Harassment of watercraft owners is the Lakeshore Owners seem to think they are Immune themselves and put all the blame on those of us that transport boats from lake to lake.

We can do all the Cleaning-Draining & Drying required by current Law and even go beyond what the Law requires and we will not STOP the Spread of A.I.S.

We may slow it down for a time, but we will NOT STOP it!

Many of the “so called A.I.S. Experts” even agree that you could ban ALL Watercraft from uninfested lakes within 5-miles of an infested lake downstream and you’ll still have them infested with the next 10-years.

The Media in this case is to blame for many of the problems and the blame game going on by spreading FALSE & Mis-LEADING Stories and Statements.

I can see you’re pretty worked up about this. It sounds like you’ve got a bone to pick with the lake association. Have you met with any of them to try and work out a compromise?

There’s 2 sides to everything. If your goal is to slow the spread of AIS logic dictates that there’s a far greater chance for contamination from boats that have been in multiple lakes vs boats that are used primarily, if not solely on that particular body of water. The homeowners want to keep the lake they spend almost all of their time on as healthy as possible. Throw in that they have a significant amount of money invested in a home on that lake – and you can’t blame them for trying to find a solution to the problem.

Will homeowners do stupid things or make boneheaded decisions…probably not any higher than the national average

It sucks that you’re getting the brown end of the stick on this. If your goal is to try and convince the association of the validity of your points, how do your excessively strong responses help you reach this goal?

regards,
Brian

To be fair, I’ve taken adult zebra mussels out of my boat after only fishing for an afternoon on some infested waters. I fish weeds a lot, and as they come into the boat they sometimes bring attached mussels…just saying it can happen without mooring my boat for long periods of time.

My “Excessively strong” voice and positions work well with most. Most because they see I am educated about A.I.S. and I am not bring them into to their lake. I say most because there are 2-guys that their only desire is to close the Public Access and Privatize the Lake.

Other Lake Association members have heard me speak at Public Hearing and Meeting and Thank me for bringing informed and educated knowledge to the table.

When people hear you Clean, Drain & Dry your boat, then Power Wash it, they begin to like you.

Home/Lake-shore Owners with an Agenda on the other hand will try to make it as difficult as possible to access “THEIR LAKE” as they call it. They forget that the Lakes are “Public Waters” and everybody has right to enjoy.

The Last BIG Story about a potential Violation came last year on Lotus Lake in Chanhassen where according to the published story the Violator / a Lake-shore owner that went for a day tooling around Lake Minnetonka and brought back a Weed with a Zebra Mussel attached stuck between his boat and trailer bunk, just dangling for the inspector to find. This reportedly all happened a 1/2 hour before the Inspector left for the evening on his last shift of the year, just a week before the City Council was to Vote on Funding Inspectors/Inspections for this year/2013.

Now, personally I DO NOT Believe this story as they say it happened. There is No Photographic or other Physical Evidence as the Inspector reportedly destroyed the evidence, throwing it away in a garbage can. No, I DO NOT believe this happened because why would a lake-shore Owner be so Stupid as to potentially contaminate his own lake with a Very Active Lake Association.

Brian, You can think I have a Bone to pick, yet I don’t. I am only trying to my part to preserve OPEN ACCESS for ALL Watercraft Owners by promoting Watercraft owners using the Best Practices for keep their boats clean and keeping ALL current Public Lake Accesses open to the Public.

The Greatest chance of contaminating other lakes comes from Lake-shore Owners or others whom have their boats moored in Infested Lakes and then take them without decontamination to other Non-Infested Lakes.

You will NOT find a Zebra Mussel attached to my boat because I am never in a lake long enough for a Veliger to attach to my boat and grow into an Adult Zebra Mussel. Then my boat gets cleaned and dried.

Now there are many many non-educated watercraft owners out there that don’t bother cleaning their rigs and ignore even the simplest methods of cleaning and following the law. It does not take much effort to clean, drain and dry your watercraft.

I started this thread as a RANT on the MEDIA. They tell more half-truth that do more harm to the average Joe Angler out there than and A.I.S. will likely ever do.

Most of the Media/Journalists don’t have even the slightest clue of what a Zebra Mussel is, yet talk like they are Experts and know what they’re talking about.

This is the reason many people quit watching the news, but why I’ll watch it. I watch for these article/stories to be informed to know how or what I’ll have to do to counteract the poor reporting and lies they spread.

I can almost guarantee any lake shut down to the public to avoid AIS will in fact become infested with AIS. However this will barely upset many of the lakeshore owners because they only want a private lake, not a clean lake.