Sey­mour Lake gets $17,248 to help keep invasive species out

MORGAN — A $17,248 grant has been awarded to the town of Mor­gan from Ver­mon­t’s De­part­ment of En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion.

The grant, in part­ner­ship with the Sey­mour Lake As­so­ci­a­tion, will go to as­sist with the Aquatic In­va­sive Species Pre­ven­tion Pro­gram.

According to the association, the pro­gram at Sey­mour Lake has been suc­cess­ful in pre­vent­ing the spread of in­va­sive species since 2000.

They’ve done so through in­spect­ing boats en­ter­ing the lake, and ed­u­cat­ing lake users to the meth­ods in­va­sive species spread.

The pro­gram op­er­ates seven-days per week, 12-hours per day at the Sey­mour Lake fish­ing ac­cess from Memo­r­ial Day week­end un­til the end of Oc­to­ber.

In ad­di­tion, a boat wash sta­tion will be in use to de­con­t­a­m­i­nate wa­ter­craft and as­so­ci­ated equip­ment en­ter­ing Sey­mour Lake com­ing from “at-risk” wa­ter bod­ies.

The process includes running water that is heated to over 140 degrees through live wells, outboard motor intakes, inboard motor intakes, fishing equipment, anchors and any other part of the watercraft that may be considered at risk.