2020

Douglas County
Aquatic Invasive
Species Prevention
Annual Report

DECEMER 15, 2020

JUSTIN SWART – DOUGLAS COUNTY AIS PREVENTION COORDINATOR

DOUGLAS COUNTY LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | 305 8th Ave W. Alexandria, MN 56308
 Contents
Background................................................................................................................................. 3
Public Relations and Education Approach.................................................................................... 3
Education Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
In-school Education Efforts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Alex Area Lakes Web Site and Promotion………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Educational Materials and Multimedia............................................................................................... 5
AIS Prevention/Wakeboard Etiquette Videos..................................................................................... 7
Minnesota Traditions Social Media Campaign.................................................................................... 7
Public Awareness Events..................................................................................................................... 7
On-site Prevention and Containment........................................................................................ 8
Background......................................................................................................................................... 8
Staff..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Watercraft Inspection Hour Allocation............................................................................................... 8
Cost-Share for Additional Inspection Hours........................................................................................ 9
Watercraft Inspections........................................................................................................................ 9
Decontamination Units..................................................................................................................... 16
Le Homme Dieu Permanent Decontamination Station..................................................................... 16
CD3 Station....................................................................................................................................... 16
Aqua Weed Stick Landing Stations……………………………………………………………………………………………..…17
Violations and Enforcement.............................................................................................................. 18
Monitoring and Management.................................................................................................... 19
New Infestations…............................................................................................................................ 19
AIS Detectors..................................................................................................................................... 19
Starry Trek......................................................................................................................................... 19
Zebra Mussel Early Detection Monitoring........................................................................................ 20
Aquatic Plant Surveys – Year 2.......................................................................................................... 20
Invasive Aquatic Plant Management Grants..................................................................................... 21
Additional Management Projects………………………………………………………………………………………………….22
Consistency and Collaboration................................................................................................... 22
“Top 10” County Meetings................................................................................................................ 22
Meetings and Collaboration............................................................................................................ 22
2021 Goals………………………………………………................................................................................. 23

Figure 1 – Example of student-created content located on “Kids Corner” of AlexAreaLakes.org… 4

Figure 2 – Business card images AlexAreaLakes website promotion……………………………………..…... 5
Figure 3 – AIS bar coasters .......................................................................................................... 5
Figure 4 – AIS prevention billboards……………………..…………………………………………………………………….6
Figure 5 – Be A Hero, Transport Zero print ad………...................................................................... 6
Figure 6 – A Quick Guide to Owning Lakeshore in Douglas County brochure…............................. 7
Figure 7 – Allocation of watercraft inspection hours.................................................................. 10
Figure 8 – Watercraft inspections by type of watercraft inspected............................................. 11

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Figure 9 – Incoming watercraft inspections by origin state…………..…………….…………….................12
Figure 10 – Top boater-reported results of next waterbody to be visited....................................12
Figure 11 – Top boater-reported results of previous waterbody visited.....................................13
Figure 12 – Total watercraft inspections by month of year..........................................................13
Figure 13 – Number of watercraft inspections occurring by hour of the day………………………………14
Figure 14 – Total number of watercraft inspections and inspections per hour by lake……...........15
Figure 15 – Le Homme Dieu Permanent Decontamination Station..............................................16
Figure 16 – Aqua Weed Stick Landing Station……………………………………………………………………………17
Figure 17 – Aqua Weed Stick usage summary…………………………………………………………………………...18
Figure 18 – Drain plug compliance on incoming watercraft........................................................ 18
Figure 19 – Count of incoming aquatic invasive species transport.............................................. 19
Figure 20 – Douglas County lakes surveyed for aquatic plants in 2020………………………………………21
Figure 21 – Summary of awarded Douglas County invasive aquatic plant management grants.…21
Figure 22 - 2020 Douglas County AIS Spending (Through November 2020)………………………………..22

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Dave Rush, Jessica Albertsen, and Danielle Anderson for their assistance with this
report and the implementation of the Douglas County AIS Prevention Plan.

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Background
The Douglas County Aquatic Invasive Species Plan contains four main components designed with the
intent to slow the spread of aquatic invasive species within the county. The pillars of the plan and their
associated goals are:
A. Public Relations and Education
1. Use existing or develop consistent information to raise public awareness on the potential
impacts, costs, and prevention of AIS through various media platforms.
2. Employ a positive approach to inform targeted lake resource users about AIS impacts and
prevention at the point of use.
3. Educate youth on existing and potential AIS and teach simple prevention best management
practices.
B. On-Site Prevention
1. Prioritize inspection and decontamination resources to achieve the greatest AIS education and
prevention impact.
2. Improve the efficiency of inspection and decontamination process to expedite loading and
launching while ensuring watercraft are free of AIS.
3. Employ a customer service approach with the inspection process that encourages the
recreational use of County lake-resources while educating users on AIS types, risks, and
prevention.
C. Monitoring and Management
1. Monitor Douglas County lakes for early detection of AIS presence and to track the extent and
impacts of existing infestations.
2. Manage existing infestations to decrease impacts and limit the potential for further transfer.
3. Respond rapidly to isolated initial infestations where there exists a chance to contain and
eradicate the AIS.
D. Consistency and Collaboration
1. Collaborate in multi-jurisdictional efforts that encourage consistency, decrease cost, and
provide benefits.
2. Increase multi-jurisdictional consistency of AIS prevention efforts while maintaining local
flexibility.

Douglas County continued and expanded its efforts this season to meet these goals because of a
legislative allocation of $257,991 dedicated to aquatic invasive species prevention in 2020.

A. Public Relations and Education Approach

Education Background
Educating the public on the issues associated with AIS transport and infestation, including methods to
prevent their spread, has long been considered essential to stopping AIS proliferation. The primary
goal of effective communication and education is to raise awareness of the types of AIS and their
ecological and economic impacts. With this information, stakeholders gain an understanding of how
they may be affected by AIS and why they should be concerned. Educational efforts should teach
resource users prevention practices and management methods that eventually lead to long-term
habitual behavior change.

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Unfortunately, due to the impacts of COVID-19 this year, many educational efforts were significantly
scaled back or eliminated due to the inability to meet in person or cancellation of annual community
events.

In-school Education Efforts

During the school year, the AIS education and outreach focus was working with the students and
encouraging them to educate their parents on the matter. Most of the school aged efforts have been
for students ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade. Newly developed AIS traveling trunks containing games,
activities, lesson plans, and DVDs were used in six presentations at four different schools prior to
schools being closed early for COVID-19. Students learned hands-on why AIS is a concern, observe
preserved specimens as well as discuss the long term impact AIS has on the community and area lakes.

Alex Area Lakes Web Site and Promotion

Douglas County worked with Dynamic14 to develop and launch a web site in April 2017 intended to
serve as a directory of information related to AIS, water quality, and shoreland management
(www.alexarealakes.org). The site also features a portal to an interactive county recreational map.
The primary audience for the site are recreational boaters, tourists, and county residents. The site has
an interactive, engaging, and functional format that that is
easy to navigate. Future updates to the site include
monthly lake of the month changes, blog posts, and
content refreshing.

Last year, the “Kids Corner” content in the blog section of

the Alex Area Lakes web site went live (Figure 1). This
content features messages, images, or other works of art
created by area students to help promote stopping the
spread of AIS.

Google Analytics data shows the website grew the number

of unique users from 1,221 last year to 1,285 this year and
users completed 2,518 page views. The average user
session on the site was about 1 minute and the highest web
site activity occurred during the month of March.

To help promote the web site, 80,000 business cards were

produced with one side of the card containing the link to
the web site set against the background of a lake scene and
the other side displayed fish weight and length charts for
common game species in area lakes (Figure 2). A portion of
these cards were distributed to local businesses, tourism
offices, local public events, and to individuals
encountered at public water accesses although this Figure 1 – Example of student-created content
activity was scaled back in 2020. located on “Kids Corner” of AlexAreaLakes.org

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 Figure 2 - Images used on business card handouts for promotion of AlexAreaLakes website.

Educational Materials and Multimedia

Douglas County partnered with Wildlife Forever and neighboring counties to purchase and distribute
12,000 AIS themed bar coasters to local restaurants (Figure 3). These coasters reinforced the
nationwide ‘Clean-Drain-Dry’ message and advocated for the public to participate in helping protect
the lakes. The positive messaging on these coasters was selected because the negative tone of some
outreach may potentially discourage tourists and residents from using lake resources and believing
that Douglas County lakes are lost to AIS. Coasters were ordered in March but did not arrive until
October. With many restaurants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, coasters would have been
withheld if available and distributed in 2021.

Figure 3 – Bar coasters produced and distributed to local businesses in Douglas County.

Douglas County also partnered with Newman Signs, Ottertail County, and Grant County on two
billboards found along Interstate 94 from June through October 2020 (Figure 4). The AIS prevention
Clean-Drain-Dry message was prominently featured on the billboards.

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 Figure 4 – AIS prevention billboards placed along I-94 northwest of Alexandria, MN.

Douglas County, in partnership with Creative Impact Design, produced a revised Douglas County
recreational map, first launched in August 2016. These maps contain essential AIS information and
prevention practices as well as information related to local county parks and trails. The revised version
also advertised the AlexAreaLakes.org web site. A total of 5,000 new maps were printed and
distributed to watercraft inspectors, Explore Alexandria tourism, and other local businesses. These
maps have traditionally been well-received by the public as people enjoyed getting a handout that
offered beneficial current information and could be used on repeat occasions.

Douglas County also partnered with Creative Impact Design

to produce a full-page ad for the May/June and July/August
2020 issues of the “Vacationer” magazine and the May-
August “101 Fun Things” publication. This ad used the “Be
a Hero, Transport Zero” tagline and reminded boaters to
“Clean, Drain, Dispose”. A link to the web site was also
included in the ad (Figure 5). There were 5,000 copies
printed and placed at restaurants, gas stations, and other
locations.

Three AIS-related ads were also placed in the 2020

Alexandria Visitor’s Guide: one “Be A Hero, Transport Zero”
ad and two AlexAreaLakes.org ads. A total of 47,000 guides
are distributed throughout the area.

In collaboration with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

and Creative Impact Design, copies of a new boating and
water safety pamphlet which were produced in July 2017
continued to be distributed this season. These handouts
Figure 5 – Image of ad used in July/August
also detailed the “Clean, Drain, Dispose” tips intended to
2019 Vacationer magazine.
reduce the risk of spreading AIS.
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In early 2018, Douglas County developed a new brochure titled “A Quick Guide to Owning Lakeshore in
Douglas County”. Within the brochure, a small section features AIS laws relevant to homeowners as
well as best practices individuals can participate in. 5,000 copies were produced and distributed when
requested to local lake associations, realtors, and local tourism offices again in 2020 (Figure 6).

Many physical materials were not handed out this year due to cancellation of most public events and
to limit the spread of COVID-19 via promotional items. These items will be held and distributed in
future seasons.

AIS Prevention/Wakeboard Etiquette Videos

In 2019, Douglas County partnered with LB Video
Productions, Leighton Broadcasting, and Faction
Marine to produce four AIS prevention and
wakeboard etiquette videos that can be used as
PSAs for broadcast, social media, and websites. An
example of one of the videos can be found here. In
2020, these videos were shared on the Douglas
County and Douglas County Soil and Water
Conservation District web pages. The videos are
also hosted on the AlexAreaLake.org page and
further avenues of sharing will be continue to be
explored.

Minnesota Traditions Social Media Campaign

In partnership with the Mississippi Headwaters
board and Minnesota Traditions, Douglas County
financially contributed to their social media effort
to showcase their AIS prevention message on digital
platforms. Minnesota Traditions has grown to
39,598 followers on Facebook and 8,118 Twitter Figure 6 - New Douglas County brochure aimed at new
followers. In the last year, their social media homeowners includes AIS prevention content.
content has generated over 2.5 million targeted
impressions.

Public Awareness Events

Annual events including the Douglas County Groundwater Festival, the AIS booth at the Fleet Farm Kids
Fishing Day, Big Ole SUP-athon, Art in the Park, the Douglas County Fair, and the Viking Sportsmen
Youth Outdoor Activities Day were all cancelled in 2020. Historically, each of these events provided
various opportunities to share AIS prevention messages and to distribute promotional items.

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B. On-site Prevention and Containment

Background
Douglas County recently completed its 10th season of conducting watercraft inspections. The
inspection process involves the watercraft inspector visually and tactilely searching for aquatic invasive
species or anything else that could potentially spread aquatic invasive species including water, mud,
plants, or other debris. Watercraft inspectors also complete a survey for each incoming or outgoing
watercraft while educating boaters about the issues surrounding aquatic invasive species. The focus of
the survey is to gain insight into both boater knowledge of aquatic invasive species and boating
behavior. Watercraft users are asked to voluntarily disclose the last water body they visited as well as
the next planned boating location. This information can be used to better allocate staff hours to
suspected highly trafficked areas in future seasons.

Staff
A total of twelve watercraft inspectors were hired this season directly through Douglas County. There
were nine authorized Level I watercraft inspectors and three authorized Level II watercraft inspectors
that collectively worked 4,057.50 man hours. Due to a county hiring freeze, the field season was
delayed by one month with staff beginning to work in the field in mid-June.
Staff meetings were held every other week to resupply inspectors with handouts, answer questions,
improve aquatic invasive species knowledge, and complete timesheets. In the field, county inspectors
worked to accommodate boaters by supplying cold water for transporting bait, removing loose floating
vegetation at boat ramps, alerting boaters to safety concerns, providing garbage cans, handing out
county recreational maps, and informing the public of local events. COVID-19 protocols drafted by the
Minnesota DNR Watercraft Inspection Program, including social distancing, hands-off inspections on
public equipment, and regular sanitization were implemented in the Douglas County Watercraft
Inspection Program as well.
Staff were also supplied with field handbooks with Minnesota-specific AIS information. These
handbooks serve as a field resource for staff to learn about invasive and native aquatic species that
staff could show to members of the public if they had identification questions.
Watercraft inspectors also participated in early detection monitoring in July and August as part of
invasive aquatic plant early detection efforts on area lakes. No new AIS infestations were found during
regular searches at public water accesses.

Watercraft Inspection Hour Allocation

Staff were assigned to work at various public water access sites throughout the county. Work sites
were selected based upon historical inspections per hour data (traffic use) collected by the MN DNR
and Douglas County as well as the infestation status of the lake. Accesses were categorized as High
Use Infested, Low Use Infested, Priority Uninfested, and Low Use Uninfested. Prior to the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the county inspection program sought to fulfill 2,100 target Level I inspection
hours and 2,100 target Level II inspection hours across all assigned public water accesses (Figure 7).

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Cost-share for Additional Watercraft Inspection Hours
Historically, Douglas County makes available the opportunity for lake associations and political
jurisdictions within the county to cost-share for additional watercraft inspection hours at public
accesses. These inspections are in addition to the number of hours already allocated for an access on a
lake. Applicants can choose the type of inspections (Level 1 or Level 2), the number and schedule of
the requested hours, and the accesses to be staffed. With a hiring freeze in place at the traditional
time of the cost-share application, Douglas County chose to forego offering this opportunity in 2020.

Watercraft Inspections
There was a total of 6,837 inspections conducted on 19 lakes at 23 unique public water accesses by
watercraft inspectors across Douglas County. The number of watercraft inspected had increased each
year for the past 6 years, from 5,608 in 2015 to 9,562 in 2016 to 9,598 in 2017 to 10,339 in 2018 and
10,616 inspections in 2019. With the delayed start and reduced staffing numbers, the overall
inspection total was lower this season. Statewide, a record 608,000 watercraft inspectors were
conducted by 788 inspectors. Most of the 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspections occurred on
watercraft categorized as fishing boats (Figure 8) and 93.9% of the incoming inspections were
conducted on watercraft transported by vehicles with Minnesota license plates. The other most
common states where watercraft came from were border states including Iowa, North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Wisconsin (Figure 9).
Like previous seasons, responses to survey questions indicate the most likely waterbody a user would
go to next was within Douglas County and was a waterbody known to be infested with zebra mussels
(Figure 10). Three of those water bodies (Le Homme Dieu, Carlos, Victoria) are also infested with
Eurasian watermilfoil that is actively managed each year. Users also reported the last waterbody they
came from was a lake within Douglas County infested with zebra mussels (Figure 11).

Temporal changes in watercraft inspections demonstrate July and August were the busiest time of the
year but it should be noted the watercraft inspection season did not start until June 12 (Figure 12).
The busiest times of day for watercraft inspections widely ranged from 8:00am-5:00pm (Figure 13).
Based upon inspections per hour, 22 of the public water accesses where inspections occurred had a
rate over 0.9 inspections/hour, which is the standard adopted from the MN DNR as a threshold for
what constitutes a “busy” public water access (Figure 14). Inspections per hour data were similar to
2019 data in most cases. The four busiest public water accesses in 2018 and 2019 were repeated in
2020, including Le Homme Dieu – Rotary, Le Homme Dieu – Krueger’s Creek, Miltona – NE, and Osakis
– City.

The county watercraft inspection program has been present at the annual Big Ole SUP-a-thon to
provide inspections, decontaminations, and educational resources in past years. However, that event
was cancelled in 2020.

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 2020 Douglas County Allocation of Watercraft Inspection Hours
Public Water Access Level I Hours Actual/Target Level II Hours Actual/Target
Andrew 40/100 20/50
Carlos – W 80/100 50/100
Chippewa 70/100 0/0
Cowdry 15/50 15/50
Devils 0/0 10/50
Geneva – N 95/100 75/125
Ida – E (Pilgrim’s Pt) 135/100 120/200
Ida – SE (Highlands) 100/100 0/0
Irene – N 0/0 20/50
Irene – SE 40/100 0/0
Latoka – N 35/100 80/100
Le Homme Dieu – Krueger’s Creek 0/0 250/600
Le Homme Dieu – Rotary Beach 250/300 0/0
Lobster 60/50 80/150
Maple – N 40/100 0/0
Mary – S 75/100 145/150
Miltona – NE 100/100 160/200
Miltona – W 50/50 0/0
Osakis – S (City) 80/100 0/0
Reno – NE 110/150 0/0
Smith 60/100 65/150
Vermont 135/150 0/0
Victoria 75/100 80/125
TOTAL 1635/2100 1170/2100
Figure 7 - Distribution of 2020 Level I and Level II inspection hours at public water accesses across Douglas County. Actual
number of hours versus target hours on site is indicated. Target hours were determined prior to COVID-19 impact and
Douglas County hiring freeze. A Level II inspector is required to have another staff person (either a Level I or Level II
inspector) with them on site. To avoid over-reporting hours staffed at an access, those duplicate shifts are not reflected in
these totals. Staff shortages and delayed season start resulted in target hours not met.

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 2020 Douglas County Watercraft Inspections by Watercraft Type

Watercraft Type Count Percentage

Fishing Boat 4000 58.5%

Runabout or Ski-Boat 1037 15.2%

Pontoon 1003 14.7%

Personal Watercraft 463 6.8%

Wakeboard Boat with Ballast 164 2.4%

Jon Boat 67 1.0%

Canoe/Kayak/Or Similar 50 0.7%

Boat Lift/Dock/Or Similar 43 0.6%

Sailboat 10 0.1%

Grand Total: 6,837

Figure 8 – 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspections broken down by type of watercraft inspected.

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 2020 Douglas County Incoming Inspections by Origin State
State Count
MN - Minnesota 3390
IA - Iowa 50
ND - North Dakota 48
SD - South Dakota 35
WI - Wisconsin 21
NE - Nebraska 14
IL – Illinois 12
FL - Florida 10
TX - Texas 9
AR - Arkansas 2
CO - Colorado 2
KS - Kansas 2
MI - Michigan 2
MT - Montana 2
OK - Oklahoma 2
TN - Tennessee 2
AZ - Arizona 1
GA - Georgia 1
IN - Indiana 1
MO - Missouri 1
UT - Utah 1
WY - Wyoming 1

Grand Total: 3609

Figure 9 – Count of incoming watercraft inspections broken down by origin state. 93.9% of the incoming inspections were
conducted on watercraft transported by vehicles with Minnesota license plates.

2020 Douglas County Exiting Watercraft Traffic – Next Location

Next Waterbody Count
Unknown / Does Not Know 700
Le Homme Dieu 536
Miltona 296
Ida 222
Geneva 133
Storage 124
Carlos 116
Mary 114
Osakis 112
Victoria 87
Figure 10 – Top results of 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspections indicating the next waterbody that will be visited by
the surveyed boater. Results are based on user-reported data and are subject to error.

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 2020 Douglas County Entering Watercraft Traffic - Last Location
Last Waterbody Count
Le Homme Dieu 608
Ida 332
Miltona 264
Unknown / Does Not Know 220
Carlos 209
Osakis 176
Victoria 150
Mary 146
Geneva 123
Latoka 121
Figure 11 – Top survey results of 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspections indicating the previous waterbody visited by
boater. Results are based on user-reported data and are subject to error.

Figure 12 – Total 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspections by month of year. Inspection season ran from 5/12/20 to
10/12/20. Due to hiring freeze, no inspections occurred during May 2020. Seven of the twelve staff were done working by
Labor Day.

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 Number of Watercraft Inspections Occurring by
Hour of the Day
900
732 768 750

Number of Inspections
800 688 713 663 684
700 628
600 509
500 398
400
300 240
200
100 11 43 9
1
0
5 AM6 AM7 AM8 AM9 AM 10 11 12 1 PM 2 PM 3 PM 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM 7 PM
AM AM PM
Hour of the Day

Figure 13 – Count of the number of watercraft inspections based upon the time of day. Inspectors were typically scheduled
to work 8am-6:30pm unless there was a special event (i.e., fishing tournament) outside of those hours.

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 Douglas County Inspections Per Hour
2020 Raw # 2020 2019 2018
Public Water Access Inspections Inspections/Hour Inspections/Hour Inspections/Hour
Osakis – S (City) 335 4.2 2.7 4.2
Le Homme Dieu – Krueger’s 1030 4.1 3.1 2.6
Le Homme Dieu – Rotary 808 3.2 3.6 3.1
Miltona – Northeast 765 2.9 2.9 3.1
Geneva 448 2.6 2.4 2.2
Ida – East (President’s Park) 667 2.6 2.0 2.2
Victoria 401 2.6 2.7 1.7
Carlos - West 327 2.5 2.2 1.1
Mary - South 494 2.2 2.1 1.8
Irene - Southeast 85 2.1 1.9 1.1
Chippewa 142 2.0 1.3 1.9
Latoka - North 233 2.0 2.4 2.5
Ida – Southeast (Highlands) 188 1.9 2.4 1.9
Irene - North 34 1.7 N/A 1.0
Cowdry 50 1.7 1.1 0.8
Lobster 230 1.6 2.6 2.0
Smith 168 1.3 1.2 1.4
Maple 53 1.3 0.9 0.8
Andrew 67 1.1 1.4 1.5
Reno - Northeast 117 1.1 2.1 1.6
Vermont 143 1.1 1.3 1.1
Miltona – West 52 1.0 1.4 1.0
Devils* 0 0.0 0.5 0.3
TOTAL: 6,837

Figure 14 – 2020 Douglas County total number of watercraft inspections and inspections per hour. 2019 and 2018
inspections per hour data also included for historical reference. >0.9 inspections per hour constitutes a busy watercraft
inspection access per MN DNR standards. *At Devils Lake, inspections were only conducted for one 10 hour shift in 2020
and 2019.

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Decontamination Units
There were 197 records of decontaminations conducted this season by Douglas County staff using 4
county-owned decontamination units. Of the conducted decontaminations, 78 were classified as full
decontaminations, 99 were partial decontaminations, and 20 were courtesy decontaminations sought
out by users who wanted to ensure their equipment was clean. Those seeking courtesy
decontaminations used the MN DNR decontamination unit finder website
(www.mndnr.gov/courtesydecon), for which Douglas County supplied the locations of their
decontamination units for every weekend. 29.4% of the decontaminations were conducted on
watercraft classified as fishing boats, 24.9% were attributed to pontoons, and 22.3% were on
runabouts or ski-boats with no ballasts.

Le Homme Dieu Permanent Decontamination Station

In August 2017, Douglas County Land and
Resource Management received approval
to build a permanent decontamination
station at the Krueger’s Creek public water
access on Lake Le Homme Dieu (Figure
15). This site was selected because
Douglas County owned the land where the
station would be located, the access is one
of the busiest in the county, and both
county and state staff could operate the
decontamination station. The 10’ x 12’
shed and pressure washer equipment was
installed on site in November 2017. Work
on the station was completed in the spring
of 2018 and was fully operational for the
Figure 15 - Douglas County permanent decontamination station
full 2018 season. In 2020, the station was
at Krueger’s Creek access on Lake Le Homme Dieu.
open from mid-June through October 12.
Staff were scheduled to work at the
permanent station Friday – Monday, 8am – 630pm. Survey records indicate 1,030 inspections took
place at Le Homme Dieu – Krueger’s Creek and 54 decontaminations were conducted at the station in
its second season. This off-grid, off-site decontamination station is the first of its kind in the state.
CD3 Station
After meeting with the Douglas County AIS Task Force and receiving purchase approval from the
County Board in 2019, Douglas County decided to proceed with acquiring a CD3 Station. These
waterless stations are user-operated and contain various equipment pieces designed to reduce the risk
of AIS transport, including a wet-dry vacuum, drain plug wrench, brushes, and a compressed air hose.
Douglas County chose to have a CD3 station installed at the Lake Osakis – City access because it is
typically one of the busiest accesses in Douglas County and it has an ideal location for a station.
Meetings and site visits took place between Douglas County staff, Osakis city officials, and MN DNR
Parks and Trails staff in July 2019. Following the meeting, MN DNR staff informed Douglas County the

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required lease agreement will take up to 6 months to complete because federal funding was used to
acquire and develop the state-owned public water access. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval is
needed before the lease can be granted.
In March 2020, the CD3 paperwork was reviewed and approved by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The
City of Osakis signed the lease and obtained a state utility license in April. Douglas County purchased
the CD3 station in May which was delivered in August. In September, Douglas County and the city of
Osakis signed a Memo of Understanding which detailed the terms of responsibility regarding
maintenance of the CD3 station. Heavy October snowfall postponed installation activity and now
Douglas County intends to proceed with the installation in the spring of 2021.
Aqua Weed Stick Landing Stations
In March, the MN DNR Invasive Species Program offered AIS
Prevention Behavior Change Grants to help prevent the
introduction and spread of AIS into Minnesota waters. Grant
applicants were encouraged to submit project proposals using
behavior change intervention strategies following
recommendations made in the DNR Moving Forward Report.
Douglas County’s application proposed the installation of three
Aqua Weed Stick Landing Stations with attached designated bait
disposal containers at three different high use public water
accesses in Douglas County. These stations provide a simple,
effective means to remove the barrier of no reasonable method
to legally dispose of unwanted bait at an access while also
providing boaters tools to address other AIS prevention practices
such as aquatic vegetation removal. The bait disposal containers
afford fishermen a method of proper bait disposal on site,
rather than illegally dumping bait on the ground or in the Figure 16 – Aqua Weed Stick Landing Station
lake. The application was reviewed and a grant in the
amount of $4,530.00 was approved for the project, covering the cost of two of the three stations.
With assistance from the Douglas County Public Works Department, the three stations were installed
at public water accesses on Lake Miltona, Geneva, and Mary on August 31 and remained open through
October 13 (Figure 16). A press release was published in the Echo Press newspaper,
VoiceofAlexandria.com, and the Douglas County website after installation was complete.
To evaluate the use of the stations, digital tally counters attached to both the retractable Aqua Weed
Stick tool and bait disposal container logged the number of uses. Watercraft inspectors assigned to
work at accesses with the stations informed boaters about the stations and request verbal
commitments to use the station in the future when possible. The stations were checked twice a week
for six weeks this season.

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Landing stations had steady usage even as boating traffic trailed off in September and October. Bait
was seldomly found in the bait disposal bins, with only 8 observed occurrences. Trash was found in the
bait disposal bins on 85% of the site checks (Figure 17).
In 2021, additional evaluation will include the use of broad social media strategies, revamped station
signage emphasizing bait disposal only, promotion through partnerships with lakes associations,
sportsmen groups, bait shops, and a full season of monitoring station usage (May-October).

Station Total Bait Total Aqua # of Bin # of Nearby Verbal Commitments

Location Disposal Weed Stick Contamination Litter Received by
Bin Uses Uses Occurrences (12 Occurrences (12 Watercraft Inspector
checks per site) checks per site)
Geneva 57 76 7 1 0
Mary 72 30 10 0 27
Miltona 66 44 10 1 44

Totals 174 118 27 2 71

Figure 17 – Usage summary of three Aqua Weed Stick Landing Stations in Douglas County obtained 8/31/20 – 10/13/20.
Sites were checked twice a week, twelve times per site. Bin contamination is defined as anything other than bait being
found in the bait disposal bin.

Violations and Enforcement

Minnesota state law requires the drain plugs to be removed from all watercraft when traveling over
the road due to the risk of AIS being transported in water. On entering watercraft, approximately
98.6% - 99.1% of users correctly had their drain plugs out on arrival (Figure 18). This was similar to the
reported 2019 Douglas County compliance rate range of 98.1% - 98.5%. In 2020, the statewide drain
plug compliance rate was approximately 97%. Users arriving at the access with their drain plugs in
their watercraft were asked to remove plugs and drain any water away from the access before
launching.

Watercraft inspectors noted 26 occurrences of vegetation being transported on incoming watercraft

and 6 instances of attached zebra mussels found (Figure 19). Plants were removed by hand when
possible and attached zebra mussels were treated by the decontamination unit.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office did not issue any AIS-related warnings or citations this season but
did assist with inspections and educated boaters on AIS related violations.

Drain Plug Compliance 2020 2019 2018 2017

Rate
Douglas County 98.6% - 99.1% 98.1% - 98.5% 97.4% - 97.8% 97.2% - 98.5%
Statewide 97.0% 97.0% 96.8% 98.3%
Figure 18 – Survey results of 2020 Douglas County watercraft inspection drain plug compliance on incoming watercraft.
Historical data for Douglas County and statewide Minnesota records are included for reference.
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Figure 19 – 2020 Douglas County count of aquatic invasive species transport or related transportation issue on entering
watercraft.

C. Monitoring and Management

New Infestations
In July, a person snorkeling on Lake Aaron contacted the MN DNR after finding zebra mussels on a rock
in the lake (DOW # 21024200). In a follow-up survey, DNR staff found seven zebra mussels in the lake
and later listed the water body as infested. Lake Moses (DOW # 21024500), which is downstream of
Lake Aaron, was also listed as infested and the presence of zebra mussels was confirmed later in the
summer.

AIS Detectors
The University of Minnesota Extension office and the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research
Center (MAISRC) had conducted their AIS Detectors program the previous three years. This program
was designed with the intent of creating a statewide network of trained volunteers capable of
completing new detection surveys, identifying new AIS infestations, providing outreach education, and
supplying AIS program support. Due to COVID-19, they chose to cancel all new AIS Detector workshops
in Spring 2020. Douglas County has sponsored 12 local volunteers to participate in the program over
the past three years. Once certified, AIS Detectors must complete 25 hours of volunteer service
annually.

Starry Trek
Douglas County and other Minnesota entities participated in Starry Trek, a statewide search for starry
stonewort and other AIS, on August 15 which was organized by MAISRC. A total of 9 local volunteers
were trained and provided equipment to sample at 12 local lakes and 15 unique public accesses. No
starry stonewort was found at any of the sampling locations in Douglas County. Statewide, after

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sampling at 292 water accesses, one new case of starry stonewort was found in Carnelian Lake in
Stearns County.

Zebra Mussel Early Detection Monitoring

Douglas County staff and volunteers installed eleven zebra mussel settlement plates which could be
suspended in a water body not known to be infested with zebra mussels. These structures were hung
off docks at public water accesses and checked every other week July through September to see if
zebra mussels had attached to the objects. The lakes monitored included Smith, Vermont, Aaron,
Moses, Pocket, Rachel, Blackwell, Freeborn, and Red Rock. Zebra mussels were not found on any of
the samplers in the water bodies. Lake Aaron and Moses were designated as infested when zebra
mussels were found elsewhere in Lake Aaron in July. Three settlement plates were deployed on
Pocket Lake which is listed as zebra mussel infested. Zebra mussels were not observed on any of the
plates.
Historically, Douglas County Land and Resource Management partnered with RMB Environmental
Laboratories to conduct an early detection monitoring program for zebra mussel veligers in local
uninfested lakes. Plankton tow samples would be collected by the volunteers on two dates in July
which would be analyzed by RMB Labs. This year, no volunteers collected any samples for analysis.

Aquatic Plant Surveys – Year 2

The Douglas County AIS Task Force requested County staff compile aquatic plant survey records from
area lakes to create a survey database. After reviewing available aquatic plant survey records from the
MN DNR and local lake associations, staff determined the records were outdated and incomplete. To
better understand the composition of local plants communities, Douglas County sought out an
experienced aquatic plant surveyor to survey 15 area lakes in 2019 and another 15 lakes in 2020. The
aquatic plant surveys had 3 major components:
1. Establish a point intercept survey grid to characterize the aquatic plant community in a
quantitative method
2. Combine the point intercept survey with a meander survey to search additional sample points
between the grid points to better locate potential invasive aquatic plants
3. Intensively sample near public water accesses using a minimum of 50 meandering points per
access to search for invasive aquatic plants in high risk areas
The aquatic plant surveyor conducted surveys on 15 area lakes from mid-July though late August
(Figure 20). No new invasive aquatic plant infestations were found on the surveyed lakes. Surveys also
confirmed the location of flowering rush in Grants Lake, which was listed as infested in 2019.
Herbicide treatments are expected to be conducted again in 2021 using the results of these surveys.
A summary of the native aquatic plant communities in each lake will be produced in future reports by
the surveyor. A final set of 12-15 additional Douglas County lakes are expected to be surveyed in 2021.

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 Lake Survey Lake Littoral Point- Number of Number of New AIS
Date Size (ac) Intercept Plant Water Found
(ac) Spacing Species Accesses
(m) Sampled
Andrew 7.22.20 923 823 150 17 1 No
Blackwell 8.24.20 307 203 80 13 1 No
Crooked 7.23.20 281 98 80 18 1 No
Freeborn 7.23.20 248 172 80 17 1 No
Gilbert 8.19.20 202 190 80 11 1 No
Grants 8.20.20 177 64 60 9 1 No
Lobster 8.19.20 1334 693 150 20 1 No
Mill 8.19-20.20 451 196 80 17 1 No
Osakis 8.4-5.20 6389 3389 200 18 3 No
Oscar 7.22.20 1231 827 150 18 1 No
Pocket 7.13.20 263 110 80 14 1 No*
Rachel 7.13.20 448 104 80 15 1 No
Red Rock 7.29.20 903 520 150 10 1 No
Round 8.19.20 81 36 60 16 1 No
Reno 7.28.20 3809 2029 200 14 2 No
Figure 20 – Douglas County lakes surveyed for aquatic plants in 2020. *Indicates Pocket Lake is listed for zebra mussel
infestation but no zebra mussels were observed in this survey.

Invasive Aquatic Plant Management Grants

Grant applications for invasive aquatic plant management were distributed to the public in February.
These grants are intended to help in the management of existing infestations with the goal of
decreasing impacts and limiting the potential of further spread. Douglas County reserved $70,000 in
available grant funds for qualifying projects and offered to reimburse grantees for up to 75% of the
eligible per acre costs associated with treatment. Eight aquatic invasive plant management grants
were awarded for a total amount of $51,802.60 (Figure 21).

Lake Species Treated Acres Treated Grant Amount

Carlos EWM 3.2 $1,448.00

Darling CLPW 9.0 $13,461.81
Ida CLPW 13.3 $8,629.24
Le Homme Dieu EWM 5.4 $1,735.43
Le Homme Dieu CLPW 2.5 $923.00
Mary CLPW 14.7 $12,931.23
Smith CLPW 40.0 $11,622.29
Victoria EWM 0.15 $1,041.60

Total 88.05 $51,802.60

Figure 21 – Summary of awarded Douglas County invasive aquatic plant management grants. (EWM=Eurasian watermilfoil;
CLPW = curly leaf pondweed)

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Additional Management Projects
Treatment projects also took place on Indian Lake and Grants Lake in 2020. These water bodies have
no active lake associations and contain infestations of priority aquatic invasive species. With AIS
Prevention funds, Douglas County fully paid for 1.31 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil treatment in Indian
Lake in the amount of $2,236.48. Douglas County also paid for two treatments of 2.7 acres of
flowering rush in Grants Lake, totaling $879.62. Treatments are expected to be repeated in both lakes
in 2021.

D. Consistency and Collaboration

“Top 10” County Meetings
In previous years, Douglas County staff contacted representatives from the top 10-13 counties
receiving the most AIS prevention aid with the purpose of generating a statewide cooperative AIS
prevention effort. The goal of the collaboration was to identify and execute large scale projects that
could make a substantial impact on AIS in Minnesota and beyond. A meeting with the group was held
in January.
Attendees discussed developing a portfolio of success stories, fact sheets, and positive articles. These
stories would be aggregated to create a 2020 Legislative report.
Additionally, one of the projects that resulted from this collaboration was several counties agreeing to
participate in a social media campaign led by the Mississippi Headwaters Board. They operate the
Minnesota Traditions social media sites and produced a consistent AIS prevention message that
reached a statewide audience.

Meetings and Collaboration

Staff attended several meetings over the course of the year to build up knowledge and collaborate
with other counties and agencies, including the following:

- AIS “Top 10” Meeting – 1/7

- Douglas County 2020 AIS Task Force Meeting - 2/4
- DNR Behavior Change Virtual Workshop – 7/29
- MAISRC Virtual Research Showcase - 9/22-24
- Virtual Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference– 11/9-13
Douglas County collaborated with many agencies to conduct AIS related activities in 2020 including the
MN DNR, the City of Osakis, CD3 Systems, Aqua Weed Stick, Mississippi Headwaters, LB Productions,
Ottertail County, Grant County, Pope County, Todd County, Douglas Soil and Water Conservation
District, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center
(MAISRC), U of M Extension, and numerous local partners and businesses.
Land and Resource Management Director Dave Rush continued to service on the MAISRC Advisory
Board in 2020. Part of his duties in this role included reviewing AIS project proposals for funding
requests and assisting with the organization of the virtual AIS Research Summit held in September.

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E. 2021 Goals
In 2021, Douglas County will receive $257,515 in Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid which must
be used solely to prevent or limit the spread of nonnative, aquatic species at water access points
within the county.
Education efforts will continue to have a strong focus with an emphasis on reaching the public through
various non face-to-face methods, including social media, billboards, and other outreach materials.
The County will continue to implement effective ways to engage the public in aquatic invasive species
education using community-based social marketing (CBSM) strategies. The program will also look to
increase the number of school program sessions taught and support AIS prevention awareness through
school curriculum. Engagement with youth related activities such as the Fleet Farm Kid’s Fishing Day
and Viking Sportsmen Youth Outdoor Day will be a top priority if they are held. Additionally,
collaborating with local resorts to identify effective methods for delivering information to local guests
will be a high priority. The county will also look to develop a pilot project with a small number of
resorts to incentivize and encourage guests to have their watercraft inspected by providing grants or
decontamination equipment. The AlexAreaLakes.org web site will continually be updated with new
blog content and other current events with traffic being driven to the web site via promotional
materials and local partnerships.

Douglas County intends to hire 15-17 watercraft inspectors for the 2021 season. The number of staff
hired will be affected by the level of interest in the positions as well as the number of additionally
requested hours from local lake associations. Staffing locations will be informed by historical inspection
data and modeling data provided by the new U of M AIS Explorer tool (https://aisexplorer.umn.edu/).
Staff training will continue throughout the season with an emphasis on AIS identification and how to
respond to the public in a positive manner. Staff will work at up to 25 public water accesses, operate 3
mobile decontamination units, and the permanent decontamination station at Krueger’s Creek on Lake
Le Homme Dieu.

Douglas County will finalize the installation of a CD3 Waterless Cleaning System at the Lake Osakis city
public water access. This user-operated system is designed to give the boater onsite tools needed to
reduce the risk of AIS transport, including a wet-dry vacuum, plug wrench, blower and grabber reach
tool. Tool use can be remote tracked using internet-connected sensors and data logging. Use of the
three Aqua Weed Stick landing stations will also be monitored and tracked.

Monitoring and surveys for invasive aquatic plants will continue into its final season of a three-year
period. The University of Minnesota Extension’s AIS Detectors program will again be promoted as a
means of training local citizens to make accurate AIS reports. Douglas County will also again
participate in Starry Trek, a statewide search to identify new populations of the invasive green alga
starry stonewort and other AIS in August 2021. Zebra mussel monitoring in lakes not known to be
infested will continue with the deployment of settlement sampler plates and volunteer veliger
sampling.

Douglas County will again make available grant funds intended to help manage existing aquatic
invasive plants, such as curly-leaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil, and flowering rush. These
funds will be made available to local entities within the county for the management of invasive aquatic
plant species using herbicides, mechanical control, or a combination of both methods.
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 2020 Douglas County AIS Spending (Through
November 2020)
Administration

Education and Outreach

71,036.45, 24% 70,000.00, 24% Invasive Aquatic Plant Management/Local

Grants

879.62, 0% Monitoring
26,431.00, 9%
34,413.00, 12%
New CD3 and Aqua Weed Stick Stations

40,790.00, 14% New Infestation Response

51,802.60, 17%

Watercraft Inspection

Figure 22 – Summary of 2020 Douglas County AIS Spending. Estimate provided through November 2020.

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