Making a Difference with Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid:

A Template for Tracking Metrics & Accomplishments

County or Organization: ______

Year: ______Total Aid Used in this Year: $______

This template list of metrics provides a standardized way for local governments and their partners to voluntarily*track their Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Prevention Aid accomplishments. It is a tool tomore easily trackmeasurable achievements and impactful stories of success,and to show local citizens, stakeholder groups, boards and elected officials how your AIS program is making a difference in your communities.A diverse group of resource professionals, stakeholders and citizens collaborated to develop and refine these metrics.

*Providing information in this template is not required by Statute 477A.19 (AIS Prevention Aid).

Instructions: The following six categories, and metrics within, highlight common AIS activities. Fill in what is applicable to your program by:

1)Providing an estimate of the AIS Prevention Aid dollars that were spent in each category

2)Providing values for each applicable metric

3)Deleting categories and metrics that do not apply to your program

4)Sharing stories of success,because stories are just as powerful as numbers

This template is not all-inclusive and there are no required fields. Fill in as many metrics as you see fit. If time is a limiting factor, pick a small number of metrics that are most important to your program. Besure to include other metrics that were tracked by your program in the “other” fields provided. Ideally, once complete, you can:

  • Share with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, so that data from all counties can be compiled and shared annually, to showcase the statewide impact of these local AIS programs.
  • Share with your community to showcase your program’s work.

[Instructions for filling out this template are in grey text. Once you complete the template, you should delete all grey text.]

[Insert summary (1 or 2 sentences) about your AIS program, for example:In [year] in [County], # staff, # volunteers, and # stakeholder groups implemented # AIS projects, where they engaged # citizens, conducted # inspections, created # AIS products, etc.]

Snapshot Overview: AIS Prevention Aid Budget

[Provide the estimated amount of AIS Prevention Aid spent in each category. Delete categories that do not apply to your program.]

Category / Budget ($)
Program Coordination, Partnerships & Job Creation
Public Awareness & Education
Watercraft Inspection & Decontamination
Enforcement
Monitoring, Early Detection & Response Planning
Management of AIS Populations
Other [Describe and insert rows as needed]
Total

Program Coordination,Partnerships Job Creation:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$ ______estimated aidspent on program management, forming partnerships,facilitating task force activities, and creating jobs

Metric / Example Measures / Results
Jobs created and staff dedicated to AIS work (e.g. program coordinators, seasonal staff, interns, inspectors, officers, etc.) / # new/existingstaff (full or part time), % staff time, permanent or seasonal
Volunteers recruited / # active volunteers, # hours served
AIS Task Force / Committee / # of meetings held, # of members, # of stakeholder groups represented
Joint projects implemented (multiple counties, multiple organizations, etc.) / # of projects, counties involved, organizations involved
Grants awarded to local organizations (list types of projects, e.g. inspection, public awareness, invasive aquatic plant management) / $, # of groups, # of projects, types of projects
Additional contributions leveraged from local organizations (e.g. grants, contributions, matching funds, in-kind services)forall county AIS activities / $, hours, supplies

Comments onyour program coordination,partnerships & job creation activities:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Public Awareness Education:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$______estimated aid spent on public awarenessand education activities

Metric / Example Measures / Results
AIS presentations, public meetings,booths at community events / # of presentations; # of meetings; # of events; # of attendees
In-school AIS presentations / # of presentations; # of children educated
Outreach to businesses (bait shop, lake service provider, resort, etc.) / # businesses; type of interaction
Materials (publications, giveaways, displays, newsletters, etc.)and media (TV, radio, billboards, newspaper) / $ , # unique material created, # printed, # distributed, # of times aired

Comments on your public awareness & education activities:

[Insert comments here, ordelete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Watercraft Inspection Decontamination:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$ ______estimated aid spent on watercraft inspection activities

$______estimated aid spent ondecontamination activities

Metric / Example Measures / Results
Authorized inspectors (Level 1 and/or 2) trained and hired / # Level 1 inspectors; # Level 2 inspectors
Inspections performed / # inspections
Inspection coverage / Season dates, # hours, # accesses, # waterbodies
Boaters arriving in compliance with AIS laws / % clean arriving inspections; % arriving with drain plugs out
Violations / plug in on arrival, residual water, attached plants, attached zebra mussels
Boats exiting with plants attached (thus removed by inspector) / %(or #) of exiting boats with plants attached
Decontamination units in operation and decontaminations performed / # units, total # of decontaminations, # required, # courtesy

Comments on your watercraft inspection & decontamination activities:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Working with Local Law Enforcement:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$ ______estimated aid spent on enforcement activities

Metric / Example Measures / Results
Local law enforcement actively involved in enforcing AIS laws / $, # officers, # hours, # inspections by enforcement
Officers trained on AIS laws by DNR staff / # trainings, # officers
AIS warnings and/or citations issued by local law enforcement / # warnings, # citations

Comments on your enforcement activities:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Monitoring, Early Detection Response Planning:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$ ______estimated aid spent on Monitoring & Early Detection

$ ______estimated aid spent on Response Planning & Implementation

$ ______estimated aid set aside as contingency or rainy day fund for potential future response efforts

Metric / Example Measures / Results
Lakes and rivers surveyed for AIS / # of waterbodies
Zebra mussel settling platesdeployed / # of samplers; # of waterbodies
Veliger tows / $, # of waterbodies sampled; # of samples analyzed
New infestationresponse plan developed / $, scale of plan (county-wide, lake-specific, species-specific)
New infestationresponse effort(s) funded / $, # of projects

Comments on your monitoring, early detection & response activities:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Management of AIS Populations:

[Fill in applicable metrics (rows) and delete metrics that are not applicable. Delete the category (entire table and headings) if none of the metrics listed below apply to your program.]

$ _____ estimated aid spent on AISControl using herbicide, mechanical (harvest or hand-pull), biological, and/or pesticide control methods

Metric / Example Measures / Results
Control projects funded / # waterbodies; # of projects; acres of treatment; species treated; treatment type

Comments onyour AIS control activities:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

A story of success:

[Insert story here, or delete this heading]

Other Metrics Tracked by Your Program

[Add more metrics that were accomplished by your program here, or delete this category. See Appendix for examples.]

Metric / Measure / Results
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Comments on the information provided above:

[Insert comments here, or delete this heading]

Photo(s) of AIS activities

[Insert photo(s) and caption(s) of AIS activities here, or delete this heading]

Appendix

[Additional metrics and example measures – add to applicable category in tables above, or in the “other” category.]

Category / Metric / Example Measures
Program coordination / Program management costs / $, % funds, hours
Program coordination / Stakeholder groups involved in decision-making / # of groups
Program coordination / Stakeholder groups implementing projects on the ground / # of groups
Program coordination / Research projects funded / $, # projects
Public Awareness / Contacts made / # people; # of stakeholder groups and organizations
Public Awareness / AIS signs posted / # signs, # of accesses, # of waterbodies
Public Awareness / AIS Volunteers and/or Ambassadors / # volunteers, # ambassadors, # hours worked, # accesses, # waterbodies
Inspection / Additional activities conducted by authorized watercraft inspectors / Describe activity (handouts, extra survey questions, tagging, etc.)
Enforcement / Engaging local law enforcement in AIS work / # meetings held, # officers involved
Detection / Volunteers conducting surveys / # of volunteers on the water
Detection / AIS detection trainings conducted / # of trainings; type of training

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