Next Wednesday, June 2, at 7:00 pm, Jeri Geiger, Saskatchewan's Invasive Species Coordinator, will be PARCS 3rd speaker at our PARCS Spring Festival.
Here's a condensation of the what happened BEFORE
Jeri Geiger was hired by Sask Environment
Zebra (& Quagga) Mussels were believed to have hitchhiked on an ocean liner coming from the middle eastern Europe to the southern area of the Great Lakes in 1986.
It didn't take long for these tiny mussels to hitch-hike rides on other boats, spreading into Quebec and Ontario. Mussels attach themselves to boat hulls, motors, and anchors.
By 2011, mussels had hitch-hiked to the southern & western USA states.
They also travelled on boats heading up the Red River into Manitoba.
By 2013, the mussels had infested Lake Winnipeg and Cedar Lake in Manitoba ------->
A Manitoba internal inspection program was set up to try to stop further spread of mussels.
By 2015, Alberta had implemented a Border Inspction Program along their Saskatchewan and US borders.
By 2018 the Zebra mussels had establised themselves to our south-west in Montana where a comprehensive border inspection program was established.
Meanwhile, PARCS had established its policy:
AIM TO STAB
"Aquatic Invasive Mussels
Stop them at the Borders"
We lobbied the province for an education and inspection
program!
In 2018, Jeri Geiger became
Invasive Species Coordinator for Saskatchewan Environment
Jeri's session next Wednesday will deal with many other kinds of invasive species, in addition to zebra mussels.
