Volunteers sought to monitor area lakes

Are you interested in water quality? Do you love the lakes and pristine waters of Montana?

The Northwest Montana Lakes Network is looking for lake property owners and/or homeowners and water recreationists who are interested in lakes to become volunteer citizen scientists.

There are currently 41 lakes in the program, and many need a volunteer to collect water quality data, monitor for aquatic invasive species, and promote watershed stewardship in northwest Montana. Beaver Lake, Dollar Lake, Upper and Lower Stillwater Lake, Murray Lake, Murphy Lake, Bootjack Lake and Loon Lake are just a few of the lakes in the program that need volunteers.

Volunteers will receive training and equipment to assist them in data collection and aquatic invasive species identification. However, volunteers will need their own boat (motorized or non-motorized) to reach the midlake sample site. Volunteers are the primary source of lake data and play a key stewardship role in their lake community.

To learn more, visit www.nmln.info.

The Lakes Network spring training date is Thursday, April 24 from 5 p.m - 7 p.m., at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 1 headquarters (490 North Meridian Road, Kalispell). This training is open to new and current volunteers and will include basic water quality sampling protocols as well as an aquatic invasive plant and animal identification session led by FWP AIS experts. Please RSVP by April 19 to durae@whitefishlake.org.

For more information, contact the Whitefish Lake Institute at 406-862-4327, or email durae@whitefishlake.org.