Protecting our water resources can be as simple as washing and drying off your boat before leaving the ramp.  Aquatic hitchhikers are harmful plants, animals and other organisms that are invasive to many water bodies and when established in a water body, can create dramatic results. 

What can you do?  Read through these handy tips from Trailer Boats magazine and learn about some of the more prevalent hitchhikers and what you can do to prevent others from entering our lakes, rivers and streams. 

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Content Provided by Trailer Boats Magazine, August 2006.

Why should we protect our waters from invasive organisms?  Because these hitchhikers can:

• Reduce game fish populations
• Ruin boat engines and jam steering equipment
• Make lakes/rivers unusable by boaters and swimmers
• Dramatically increase the operating costs of drinking water plants, power plants, dam maintenance, and industrial processes
• Reduce native species
• Degrade ecosystems
• Affect human health
• Reduce property values
• Affect local economies of water-dependent communities.

Content Provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service