PROJECT TITLE: Stop Starry Invasion -Community Invasive Species Containment I. PROJECT STATEMENT Michigan first discovered starry stonewort in 2005 and took no direct action to contain it. Today over 1,000 Michigan lakes are infested. Minnesota first discovered starry stonewort in 2015 and today fourteen lakes are infested. These lakes have twenty eight vectors of spread -twenty eight boat launch access sites. Starry stonewort spreads prodigiously, is difficult and expensive to manage, prefers the highest quality waters, and significantly impacts fishing, boating and swimming. Resource managers concur that the Aquatic Invasive Species Best Management Practice, BMP is for boaters to completely clean, drain and dry all watercraft and water related equipment before moving it between water bodies. This project seeks to contain starry stonewort in the fourteen infested lakes by turbocharging clean, drain, dry, best management practices (BMPs) by installing waterless boat cleaning stations at all twenty eight accesses on the fourteen starry stonewort infested lakes. A three year pilot in Hennepin County found that when a waterless boat cleaning station is combined with community engagement, signage, careful location, and pavement markings, AIS violation rates can be reduced by 70+%. Self cleaning stations have never been deployed in an organized fashion to contain a specific, emerging aquatic invasive species like starry stonewort. By doing so we will preserve access to our lakes and shield other lakes in Minnesota from this new-to-Minnesota invasive algae. We hope to provide a protocol for containing all future invasions by a species new to Minnesota. While this project is focused on starry stonewort, the clean, drain and dry BMPs help prevent both the spread and introduction of all other aquatic invasive species in Minnesota. II. PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES Activity 1: Identifying Partners, Selecting Sites, and Enhancing Boat Launches with Outreach and Behavioral Cues Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates will identify key local partners and work with them to choose the best sites to instal waterless cleaning stations, plan access upgrades, and design strategic local AIS education efforts. These partners will design and implement education ranging from pavement striping, signage, video content, and stop bars. These water access site upgrades will guide traffic flow and educate users. Supporting education and boat ramp upgrades will catalyze the use of waterless cleaning stations. We will evaluate the success of the program by collecting and correlating two key variables: education impressions and behavior. Thereby, we can evaluate the impacts of our educational efforts by correlating the adoption of BMPs to education/outreach over the lifecycle of the campaign. These efforts will result in long-term educational infrastructure that reduces risk of not only starry stonewort spread, but all other AIS, after the life of the project is finished. ENRTF BUDGET: $ 278,330 Outcome - Completion Date 1. Identified local partners - June '20 -May '21 2. Installation of cleaning stations - June 21'-Aug. '22 3. Collecting use data via IoT platform - June '22 -Dec. 24' Activity 2: Install, Service and Maintain Waterless Cleaning Stations at 28 Boat Ramps for 3 Years. The supplier of the waterless cleaning stations will be chosen through an RFP process, but so far only one, the CD3, has been identified. CD3s are built in Minnesota, in use across the United States, are internet connected to transmit information on use and maintenance needs to the managers of the equipment, and have all the tools required to meet current BMPs. CD3s have low maintenance costs and are designed to last at least ten years. Additionally CD3s are an example of a success story of catalyzing innovation in invasive species management via the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars via the Initiative Foundation grants. CD3s provide lights, wet/dry vacuum, air blower, hand tools for physical AIS removal, and a drain plug wrench so boaters can effectively Clean, Drain and Dry their water related equipment. Because the selected boat cleaning station manufacturer has the knowledge and experience we will rely on their technicians to install the equipment. These systems will be free to boaters. The project will cover the cost of the equipment, installation, software, and annual costs including maintenance, insurance, replacement of tools, and the software interface platform for three years. After three years the stations will be given to the supporting partner and they will assume annual costs. The success of the activity will be evaluated by the use data collected by the software interface platform. ENRTF BUDGET: $986,625 Outcome - Completion Date 1. Comprehensive educational/outreach plan - July 2020 2. Execution of plan - July '21'-Oct. '23 3. IoT data use data collected - Aug '21-Oct. '23 4. Final Report - Jan. 2024 III. PROJECT PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS: A. Partners receiving ENRTF funding B. Partners NOT receiving ENRTF funding Name Title Affiliation Role Jeff Forester Executive Director Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates Stakeholder engagement and project management Name Affiliation Role County partners Cleaning Station Site Partners Manager of cleaning stations Lake Associations Cleaning Station Site Partners Volunteer managers of cleaning stations IV. LONG-TERM IMPLEMENTATION AND FUNDING: Local partners will be prioritized to receive a cleaning station which agree to take upon the low annual operational costs after the completion of the 3-year project.