Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) is seeking people to work as boat inspectors and decontamination technicians at boat launches across the Adirondacks to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species in the region’s waterways.
“We have a network of boat inspection and boat wash stations that have been strategically located across the region to control the spread of these harmful organisms”, said Dan Kelting, executive director of AWI in an announcement sent to the press. “We are hiring employees now to work through the fall to help us protect our waterways.”
AWI works closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Lake Champlain Basin Program and the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program to deploy stewards at these carefully selected locations that are based on a number of risk factors such as proximity to busy road corridors, existing invasive species populations, uninvaded lakes, and waterways that are popular recreation destinations. Inspection and wash station locations can be found at adkcleanboats.com.
“The recent labor shortage, a busier than normal tourist season, and the scarce housing in our communities have made it difficult for us to maintain a consistent level of staffing this year at most of our 60+ boat inspection and boat wash stations across the region”, said Kelting. “It is critical that we maintain operations at as many locations in this network as possible in order to manage the risk of invasive species spreading from one waterbody to another.”
People interested in working full time or part-time as a Watershed Steward or Decontamination Technician can find more information at adkwatershed.org/employment.
Read more about invasive species.
Photo provided.
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