Making the cut in first annual lily removal competition

SEELEY LAKE – More than 20 volunteers clipped and bagged 524 pounds of flowers and leaves of fragrant waterlilies from Salmon Lake and Placid Lake Saturday, Aug. 15 for the first annual lily removal competition "Make the Cut" held by Clearwater Resource Council. CRC Executive Director Caryn Miske was pleased with the turnout for the first event. She said CRC's goal is to hold the competition twice next year and expand to other infected lakes in the area if the community involvement is there.

The fragrant waterlily is a highly invasive plant that was likely introduced to the region as an ornamental. Its flowers are pretty but the damage they cause is severe. Plants form dense mats and outcompete native plants, create boating and fishing hazards and deplete oxygen for the native animals that call these lakes home.

Miske said that the US Forest Service has been coordinating fragrant waterlily removal on Holland Lake for the past four years. They hold volunteer days twice a season to clip the flowers and lily pads and have also been doing rhizome removal. They have seen a 75% reduction in the waterlilies around the dock area.

"To see a 75% reduction is really meaningful," said Miske. "In four years from now, if we could get even a 50% reduction, I would be super happy with that."

Miske recognizes that clipping is labor intensive. While she said CRC is exploring other options to reduce the spread of the invasive lilies, treatments like installing bottom barriers and herbicide increase the financial costs involved and still require volunteer time. In the case of herbicides, there are other ecological effects to consider.

Teams were equipped with scissors and bags as well as a fact sheet on the lilies before heading out onto the lakes. While all of the lilies on Salmon Lake are invasive, there is a mix of invasive and native lilies on Placid Lake. Those participating in the competition on Placid Lake received a map of the pockets of invasive.

Volunteers came from around western Montana including locals. The volunteers enjoyed sharing what they were doing with cabin owners and others that asked. Homeowners Placid were thanked for their efforts and some even came out to help.

Miske said they only had three people registered for the competition on Salmon Lake. By the end of the competition, they had 20 people helping once they learned what they were doing and why.

"We just need to continue to get the word out," said Miske.

The Smith family from Missoula read about the event in the Pathfinder and came out for the event.

"We recreate on Salmon and Placid and felt like it was a good way to give back for a couple of hours," said Ethan Smith. "It was a lot of fun."

While they brought paddleboards, they didn't use them. They collected 168 pounds of lilies from Salmon Lake on the south side of the State Park and won the competition.

The second-place team Brad and Jen Elison, are cabin owners on Lake Inez. They had never kayaked on Placid Lake before so they thought it was a great opportunity to visit a different lake. They appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the invasive lilies and collected 154 pounds of lilies.

"It was a privilege to be able to help out and protect our watershed," said Jen.

Miske said CRC looks forward to hosting the event again next year after the initial leafing in late spring and late summer after the plants have flowered. She added they had interest from other lakes as well, especially on Seeley Lake.

"What we need to see is a response from the community," said Miske. "If we get more interest and more volunteers we can expand this."