Lake George

A boat inspection program meant to keep invasive species out of Lake George last year found 165 cases of hitchhiking non-native life forms before boats hit the water, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Lake George Park Commission.

More than 22,200 boats were inspected between May 15 and Dec. 1 during the first season of the program, which is the first mandatory boat inspection program east of the Mississippi River, according to the report.

The program met with "resounding support from communities around Lake George, and even more importantly, the general boating public on Lake George," the report said.

Some 1,264 of those boats — or slightly more than one in every ten — were suspected of invasive infestation and cleaned with a high-pressure wash at one of six inspection stations around the lake.

The stations were manned by about 55 workers during the peak boating season.

Invasives found included eight cases of water chestnuts and two cases of an unidentified snail, neither of which is in Lake George, as well as Eurasian milfoil (119 cases), zebra mussels (23) and curly leaf pondweed (13), all of which are already present in the lake.

The inspection program cost about $668,000 last year, with costs split evenly between the state and the SAVE Lake George Partnership, a coalition of municipal, civic and environmental groups. That price tag could be trimmed by about $50,000 next year due to staffing efficiencies, the report estimated.

Attempts to reach commission Executive Director David Wick and commission Chairman Bruce Young for comment were not successful.

bnearing@timesunion.com • 518-454-5094 • @Bnearing10