More than 250 volunteers monitored more than 100 waterbodies in the Adirondacks in 2025 for invasive species, finding 71% of the 566 surveyed waterbodies were free of invasives, with no new aquatic invasives observed. But some terrestrial invasives are expanding in the region’s forests. Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program communications manager Sean Kittle discussed the effort with WAMC's Pat Bradley.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Kittle: With a lot of our infestations, eradicating the species is not really something that's likely to happen. So we talk more about you know containing the species, managing it the best we can, and then ultimately preventing it from spreading to either a new forest or a new water body.
Bradley: Do we have a handle on just how many invasives are out there that you are out there trying to teach homeowners and volunteers about?
Kittle: There are over 60 invasive species that have been confirmed in the Adirondacks. That includes aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. And then we have a bunch of what we call tier one species. For us, a tier one species is one that has not been confirmed to be in our region yet, but we're keeping an eye on it. But if it does show up, then we want to know where it is and how it's spreading. Two that we are really keeping an eye out for: on the terrestrial side, we have spotted lanternfly, which is up kind of through the Albany area right now. And then we have hydrilla, which is an aquatic invasive species that is sort of all around the Adirondack region. But as far as we know it's not here yet. You know, we're one of the least invaded places in the lower 48, the Adirondack region. We're lucky for that.
Bradley: You also work to train volunteers to monitor for and find the invasives. How do you train them, especially since we've got more than 60 invasives to be familiar with?
Kittle: Yeah, you know that's my favorite question because you know as someone who is a bit of a naturalist myself I really like going out and identifying plants and animals in the wild. I think it kind of helps build a closer connection to nature. So we have a couple programs. We have Lake Protectors where people can adopt a water body to monitor for invasive species. And then we have a forest pest hunters program which trains people to look for two forest pests: beech leaf disease in the summer and then hemlock wooly adelgid in the winter. To train people, we do webinars and walks and we usually start with the basics. So you don't need to know anything about plant identification to attend one of these workshops and to look for invasive species. I usually like to start with kind of an "identification 101" type talk where we go over the basic parts of a plant and really teach people how to look at a plant, whether it's native or invasive. And then during the walks, we'll bring samples with us. And if there are invasive species, you know, along the trail or the waterway, we'll point them out as we see them. But I also like to point out native plants too, you know, just to kind of help get people that connection and get them excited about identifying things out there in the wild. With Lake Protectors, we focus on 16 plants and 16 animals that are invasive. But we also do more general walks too that kind of cover a wider range of invasive species, including the forest pests, just to get people looking for anything and everything that might be out there.
Bradley: So, it sounds like your training is in general regarding invasives, but the volunteers, it sounds like, can actually focus on a specific invasive and go out and try to determine if they're in their area.
Kittle: Yeah, that's it and we really encourage people to pick a water body or a waterway or a trail that they want to be on anyway. You know, so if you're planning on going on a hike up a certain mountain, you can monitor it for invasive species while you're out doing your hike. Or if you have a paddle planned somewhere, you could adopt that lake or pond, and you can go out and paddle and just take a look while you're out there. And then we ask people to report invasive species using the iMAP invasive app. It's New York State's statewide database for invasive species. So it's really important that once they, if they think they see an invasive species even if they're not sure, they should snap a picture using the app and then submit it. And then somebody will look at it and it'll end up in the database if it is confirmed.
Bradley: How is the general public awareness about the problems regarding invasive species and how they should be looking for them? What's the general awareness out there?
Kittle: You know, I've been with APIP for four years now and I think it's getting better every day. When you're talking about people's awareness of invasive species and there's so much I could get into. Like the boat stewards is not a program we run, but that's a huge educational component. You know, people pull up and they talk to those boat stewards, and it's like, yeah, they're doing the clean, drain, dry thing, but they're also teaching people about invasive species. You know, honestly, like a lot of our messaging has kind of shifted, and it's shifting more towards we need to learn to live with invasive species. We need to understand them. We need to know where they are. We need to manage them where we can. But ultimately, it's like we're not going to get rid of all of them. It's just not possible. So, how do we learn to live with them? And honestly, like education and getting people not to bring them to new places is probably one of the most important things.
Bradley: Information on upcoming training sessions, walks and paddles are available on APIPP’s website adkinvasives.com.
