The Crow Wing County Land Services Department is preparing its aquatic invasive species prevention plan while the lakes in Minnesota are frozen solid.

“Each year, we get nearly $440,000 allocated to help prevent invasive species,” said Environmental Services Supervisor Jake Frie. “During the winter time, we really spend the time figuring out what we spent our money on and how effective it was.”

According to the Crow Wing County Land Services, there were no new zebra mussel infestations in any Crow Wing County lakes in 2020. While the plan worked for 2020, the county plans on adding some new things for 2021.

“We are having 20 signs being put at our most inspection-per-hour accesses throughout the county identifying where [decontamination] locations are,” said Environmental Services Specialist Nicole Erickson. “We also received a local grant that will help distribute 500 AIS beginner kits to boaters in the county.”

The county is asking for feedback on the proposed AIS plan on their website.

By — Nick Ursini