Recently, our department attended the 1st Annual FLOW AIS meeting hosted at the Northwoods Inn on June 12th. The FLOW AIS program works towards improving aquatic ecosystems through Aquatic Invasive Species prevention, education, public outreach, and waterbody monitoring in Forest, Langlade, Marinette, & Oconto Counties in Northeast Wisconsin. Derek Thorn is the FLOW AIS coordinator and handles all things aquatic invasive species for our county. He hosts many Clean Boats, Clean Waters (CBCW) trainings for many lake associations in our counties, manages the Citizen Lake Monitoring Network, assists with the cooperative Purple Loosestrife project, as well as many other educational and outreach events. Derek had a few presenters lined up for his annual meeting. Derek started by giving an overview of what the FLOW AIS program is and some of his accomplishments over the last year. Amanda Smith, an AIS Biologist for the Wisconsin DNR gave a presentation on dock service providers and how it is essential for them to be aware of AIS and to properly clean their equipment when transferring to different lakes. I was asked to give a drone demonstration with our departments DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone. The attendees were able to see the different cameras we have for our drone and learned about the different applications it has for our department. I explained how we use it to map our non-metallic mines in the county, use it for shoreline restoration projects, and it’s use for the Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Medical Services. Pictured here is our drone ascending into the sky as attendees of the meeting observe. Then, Lindsay Peterson, the Wild Rivers Invasive Species (WRISC) Coordinator gave a presentation on Forest Invasives and Water Quality. She also announced that WRISC will be changing their status to a non-profit organization and will have a new name of Roots & Rivers Collaborative. Each year, Derek will host his annual meeting in a different county in his region. Anyone was welcome to attend to learn more about his accomplishments and see other informational presentations. I anticipate that Derek will have his 2nd annual meeting around the same time next year. If anyone has any questions regarding AIS in our county, please contact my office and I can get you connected to Derek.
For more information contact Kayla Littleton, Forest County Land Conservation and Land Information Director at 715-478-1387 or by e-mail at