Kleen Impact » Conservation

Prevent the Spread of Aquatic Hitchhikers

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:13:46 +0000

There is an educational effort being taken by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the state of Utah to prevent the spread of the quagga mussel. The quagga mussel is a small freshwater bivalve mollusk with a dark and white pattern along it’s shell. They are usually less than an inch long. Although small, these invasive mussels can collect in huge colonies, literally carpeting underwater surfaces. They can live three to five years and can release 30,000 to 40,000 microscopic fertilized eggs, called veligers, in a single breeding cycle – up to a half million fertilized eggs in a year. A single cup of water left in a bilge can contain thousands of these invaders.

Quagga mussels attach themselves to a number of surfaces including boat hulls, engine intakes, livewells, bilges, anchor lines, water intake valves, canals, pipes, aqueducts and dams. This causes increased maintenance costs. In the United States, Congressional researchers estimated that invasive mussels alone cost the power industry $3.1 billion from 1993-1999, while their impact on industries, businesses and communities totals more than 5 billion.

So how can us boaters help? Easy. Inspect and clean you water vessel (powerboat, sailboat, bassboat, jetski, zodiac, yes, all of ‘em) after removing it from every waterway. It is really very easy and takes little time and we’ve also recently discovered that some of our favorite boat cleaning products make this job even easier.

We were told recently the bio-kleen boat and trailer passed the mussel inspection at Lake Powell in Utah with flying colors. Not a single quagga mussel was found in spite of the fact that the boat originates from Michigan, a state that has a high population of the mussel in the waterways. Bio-Kleen credits the easy inspection to cleaning the bilge with the bilge cleaner after boating in every waterway. A quaternary sanitizer included in the product keeps the bilge and livewells free of invasive species eggs. Also cleaning the hull, props, exhaust pipes, trailers, anchor and dock lines with hull cleaner will kill the mussels and eggs due to the phosphoric blend in the cleaner. Not to mention it dissolves unsightly calcification and scum lines at the same time. Dual action – that’s what I’m talking about… Be sure to take a few minutes after pulling you boat from each waterway to protect your boat and the environment from these nasty invaders. Think of the alternative – mussel infestations will close your local waterway. Yeah, that’s what we thought.

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Belle Island Revealed, Creators’ Reflections of the Year Long Project for Detroit Free Press

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:30:46 +0000

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Fighting Invasive Species: Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:36:48 +0000

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Belle Island Revealed, a yearlong project by the Detroit Free Press

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:11:40 +0000

Read the “Belle Isle: Fighting the silent siege” Detroit Free Press article

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Native Fish Returns to Great Lakes, Threatens Lake Trout

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:40:22 +0000

The burbot, bottom feeding fish nicknamed lawyers, are making a comback from the small number that have survived in its native waters of the Great Lakes. The species saw a huge decline in the 1950′s due to the invasive sea lamprey. Unfortunately there’s new research showing the return of the burbot may damage the multi-million dollar effort to restore another Great Lakes native, the lake trout. Read more at GreatLakesEco.org

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Tread Lightly! Unveils “Respected Access” Campaign

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:52:27 +0000

Ad for Restricted Access Campaign

Tread Lightly!, in partnership with the nation’s most influential hunting and shooting sports organizations, has released a series of six print public service announcements (PSAs) encouraging responsible behavior on public lands. The PSAs are part of a much larger new education and outreach campaign called “Respected Access is Open Access.” Read the press release or see the overview of the program.

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What’s Your Solar Potential?

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:23:28 +0000

There are two great sites we found for helping you determine not only your homes potential for solar panels, but for the costs as well. RoofRay.com uses google maps to help you determine the size of your roof and it’s potential for saving on your energy costs. After typing in your address and pinpointing your location on google maps a simple point-and-click figures the demention of your roof and it’s energy saving potential. Next is to enter your energy bills for the last 12 months, or an estimated average monthly cost. Then you can see how much you can save and move on to the costs of the panels.

The next site takes it a step further by using solar imaging and existing satellite images to design solar panelling. Sungevity.com uses a similar process as described above, but after finding your location, using Bing instead, you request an iQuote taking care of the complete design and costs online. Meaning they can cut out visits to your home for measurements and such; which should speed up process, saving customers (and the company) time and money, and also reducing carbon emissions. Cool. They’re currently not servicing my area, but assure they’re quickly expanding.

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Reduce Your Carbon Emissions, Get Paid

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:24:18 +0000

I think every reasonable person would like to reduce their carbon emissions, right? Aside from the fact that is should make you feel good, reducing your energy consumption reduces your bills and puts more money in your pocket, right?

That’s just what a new website intents to do by awarding consumers credits for their reductions and then converting those credits into cash. And guess what? It’s free to join! To get started you just need to set up a profile on www.myemissionsexchange.com and enter data from your energy bills from the last 12 months. MyEx then uses that data to calculate the household’s baseline usage, taking into account seasonal variances. Users then set out to reduce their carbon footprint.

Of course, you’re not alone, you get help from MyEex’s community section, tips, blogs and other sources for advice. Each month you enter your usage amounts and MyEx certifies those reductions and awards, members carbon credits, just as those granted to companies, states and countries. They then sell the Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) on the Voluntary Carbon Market and returns the earnings to consumers via PayPal. Meanwhile, the site itself makes a commission on the brokerage of those carbon credits.

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ROVs, Minimum Trail Impact

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:16:50 +0000

Over the past few years a majority of the powersports industry has been in decline. The Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) or side-by-side, or now Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROV) market has grown and remained consistent. That being said, there are plenty more drivers out there who must be conscious about the lands they’re using. Our friends at Tread Lightly! have come up with some ways to minimize your impact with these popular outdoor vehicles.

Travel only in areas open to ROVs. Not doing this may land you a ticket anyways.
It’s not acceptable to drive ROVs wider than 50 inches on most designated all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trails. Be safe and courteous your fellow trail riders.
Cross streams only at designated fording points or where the trail crosses the stream. Cross slowly at a 90 degree angle. Remember, you’re not only sharing the wilderness with trail riders but with the Earth and all of it’s inhabitants. Be sure to not disrupt the natural environment.
Do not carry passengers in the bed of the ROV. Too bumpy of a ride anyhow.
Buddy up with two or three drivers. Driving solo can leave you vulnerable if you have an accident or breakdown. Designate meeting areas in case of separation. This is just good sense for any extended outdoor adventure.
When winching, always inspect your equipment, use the right winch for the situation, find a good secure anchor, and never winch with less than five wraps of wire rope around the drum. When using a tree as an anchor, use a wide strap to avoid damage to the trunk of the tree.
Obtain a map of your destination and determine which areas are open to ROVs.
Make sure you and each passenger in the vehicle wears a seat belt.
Make sure your ROV is mechanically up to task. Be prepared with appropriate tools, supplies, spares and oil spill kit for trail side repairs and cleanup. Smart.
Before and after a trip, wash your ROV (try Bike Magik from Biokleen) and support vehicle to reduce the spread of invasive species. Maintaining often makes it easier to clean the next time as well. This is also most important when traveling across county or states lines.

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