New deputy wardens out to educate boaters, ticket violators
MADISON – Nine new water guards will be patrolling boat landings across Wisconsin over the July 4th holiday as the state ramps up efforts to keep invasive species and the fish disease VHS from spreading to new lakes and rivers.
The deputy warden force, part of Gov. Jim Doyle’s 2007-09 budget, was created to focus solely on educating and enforcing rules to prevent boaters and anglers from accidentally spreading invasive species and diseases.
They complement the hundreds of paid and volunteer watercraft inspectors at landings across the state, educating boaters and anglers about the rules and demonstrating how to clean boats and equipment. But unlike the inspectors, the deputy wardens will have the authority to issue warnings and citations, and they, along with the DNR’s 133 field wardens, will be actively doing so this summer.
Invasive species and VHS are a serious threat to our fish and wildlife - Randy StarkWDNR Photo“Invasive species and VHS are a serious threat to our fish and wildlife, and we’re taking it seriously from a law enforcement perspective,” says Chief Warden Randy Stark. “The role of these “water guards” is to lend an enforcement presence to this overall effort – we’ll be a backup to the inspectors, reinforcing the need to follow invasive boat and angling rules.
Rules to prevent these invaders’ spread call on boaters and anglers to remove all plants and animals from their boat and trailers and drain all water from boats and fishing equipment. These steps have been expanded in the last year to contain VHS by limiting the movement of live fish away from a lake or river.
Recent surveys of Wisconsin boaters have shown that more than a decade of efforts by DNR and partners to educate boaters and anglers about steps to prevent spreading aquatic invasive species is paying off. Anywhere from 80 to 91 percent of boaters report taking prevention steps, up from about 40 percent a decade earlier.
“While the majority of people are law abiding citizens, there are always a few people who choose for whatever reason to not follow the law,” Stark says. “It may be a small group of people, but people who behave this way undermine the prevention efforts of everyone else by transporting these things around and causing the damage everyone wants to avoid.”
The primary way that invasive species like zebra mussels and Eurasian water milfoil spread to new waters is aboard boats and boating equipment. VHS also can be transmitted in water from boats and fishing equipment, and when live infected fish are moved to another water.
VHS can infect and kill several dozen species of native game fish, panfish and bait fish, unlike most fish diseases, which tend to target a single species or a handful. The disease is not a human health threat but has caused large fish kills in the lower Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006.
Aquatic invasive species, freed from the predators and diseases that kept them in check in their homelands, can crowd out native species, disrupt ecosystems and hamper recreation. Zebra mussels, for instance, can decimate native mussel populations, decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic species need, and worsen algae blooms in addition to clogging boat intake pipes and utility intake pipes.
Tom Wrasse, the DNR warden supervisor coordinating the Water Guard, says the deputy wardens will be stationed throughout the state in Spooner, Woodruff, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Oshkosh, Wisconsin Rapids, Madison, and Waukesha through Labor Day weekend.
They have been out working boat landings and fishing tournaments since June 1, and have already spoken to thousands of boaters, says Wrasse, who is stationed in Woodruff. In addition, the new deputies have been giving presentations to fishing groups, meeting with watercraft inspectors, and conducting other activities to build community collaboration and public awareness around the steps necessary to fight the spread of invasive species.
“The Water Guard is already having an impact around the state,” says Wrasse. “Several contacts have been made with boaters and anglers that were totally unaware of the regulations. After explaining what the law is and why it is in place, there has been 100 percent compliance. The public support of this program is the highest I have seen as with any new enforcement program implemented.”
With the long holiday weekend approaching, Wrasse encourages boaters and anglers to help Wisconsin tackle the invasives problem. “Everyone has a responsibility, whether it’s by complying with the rules when recreating or spreading the word among friends and relatives. We all stand to gain if we can keep a healthy environment.”
Those prevention steps call for anglers and boaters to:
- INSPECT your boat, boat trailer, vehicle, and gear.
- REMOVE all plants, animals, and debris.
- DRAIN water from boating equipment, live wells and gear.
- NEVER move live fish - use leftover minnows ONLY under certain conditions
- REPORT Violations to 1-800-TIP-WDNR
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy Stark (608) 266-1115; Tom Wrasse (715) 358-9203
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