AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES PREVENTION
Lake Host
Protecting Silver Lake, one boat at a time.
Lake Hosts inspect boats and trailers at the public launch to help stop aquatic invasive species before they enter — or leave — Silver Lake.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why Lake Hosts matter
Boats, trailers and gear can carry invasive plants from one lake to the next.
Aquatic invasive species can hitch a ride on boats, trailers and equipment moving between water bodies — spreading from an infested lake to a clean one in a single afternoon.
Silver Lake’s Lake Host program works right at the public boat launch, checking boats and trailers as they arrive and leave, to help keep invasive species from ever getting a foothold here.
Lake Hosts greet boaters at Silver Lake’s public launch.
INSPECT → CLEAN → EDUCATE → PROTECT
At the boat launch
Every boat and trailer that comes through the public launch gets a courtesy inspection and a power wash, both on the way in and on the way out. Lake Hosts show boaters exactly where invasive plants tend to hitchhike, so self-inspection becomes second nature.
They also hand out brochures, answer questions, and walk boaters through a short survey — and if something suspicious turns up, it’s removed, photographed, and sent to the NH Department of Environmental Services for identification. Silver Lake’s Lake Hosts are a paid position, supplemented by SLAM volunteers as needed.
PROVEN PROTECTION
Documented interceptions through 2024
Lake Hosts have caught invasive species before they could take hold in Silver Lake. This record is drawn from SLAM’s 2024 program recap — not an independently verified count through today.
Variable milfoil
2002 · 2004 · 2006 · 2018
Water chestnut
2019
Eurasian milfoil
2021
Spiny naiad
2022
Figures reflect SLAM’s most recent program recap (2024) and have not been independently re-verified since.
STATEWIDE PARTNERSHIP
Part of a statewide effort
Silver Lake’s Lake Host program is part of the statewide NH LAKES Lake Host Program, which has placed trained boat inspectors at public launches across New Hampshire since 2002.
1,723
boat inspections at Silver Lake (2024)
1,352.5
paid & volunteer hours (2024)
MORE THAN TWO DECADES
Protecting Silver Lake for more than two decades
SLAM’s Lake Host program traces back to 2002, when Silver Lake joined New Hampshire’s original pilot program. By 2004, SLAM board members were already working to expand coverage and build a boat-washing station at the town landing — laying the groundwork for the program that continues today.
SLAM board members Ted Kramer (left) and Bruce Gordon (right) at the boat landing, 2004.
Become a Lake Host
SLAM’s paid Lake Hosts are supplemented by volunteers who help protect Silver Lake at the boat launch. If you’d like to help keep watch, we’d love to have you.
Volunteer with the Lake Host Program →