During the last 18 summers inspectors have educated over 20,000 boaters and visitors to the region on the larger bodies of water: Cupsuptic, Mooselookmeguntic, Richardson and Rangeley Lakes.

As of the present, courtesy boat inspectors have collectively inspected 2,407 boats. That’s last year’s total number of inspections, and this season isn’t over yet. And 28 plants have been found entering or leaving the water, which have all been identified as nonthreatening/invasive.

It only takes one plant fragment on one boat for an infestation to take hold on a lake.  Once established, there is no native predator in to slow its progress and it grows at an expediential rate, rapidly taking over shorelines making the area unsuitable for swimming or fishing.

For more information, visit rlht.org. The nonprofit organization is at 2424 Main St.