FDEP Hydrilla Control Workshop Tommorow in Orlando

[N. Cook]

I will be attending the two day state DEP workshop on the statewide planning for hydrilla control. Obviously, I will probably be the only "friend of hydrilla" there.....hope to save some for the ducks!!!!

[DUCKWHACKER]

Newton, ya think we can get some "Save the hydrilla" hats? :tard:

[N. Cook]

I will put together a report on the meeting....very important topics covered and over 300 single spaced pages generated....hard to put in a post but I will hit the high spots as soon as I can and post them. BASSMASTER had a local rep there but he was very quite...probably because they are a 501 C 3....and I spoke with him...nice guy but he left me the only one fighting for the wildlife....and do you think AUDUBON would show????? despite the issues being right in their interest...NO! The crowd (about 100) was DEP staff (many with a "kill it all" mentality no matter the collateral damage) representatives of the chemical companies making the herbacides....guess where they stood!....Dave Eggeman from the FWC who was as helpful as allowed, he actually was there for the grass carp issue....we do not want any of those put in any lake period.....they eat ALL the vegetation down to the mud and there is no way to remove them once they are in a lake. Now in several lakes as tests.....bad news for fish and wildlife. WMD staff involved in treatments, SFWMD and SJWMD and various other groups....no hunters except us...and then the lone angler mentioned above. Despite this I was able to get in some points about hydrilla being a part of the natural system now whether we like it or not and that removing it without having immediate availabilty of food for the wildlife was not acceptable....fought for a 15% minimum of hydrilla in highly infested lakes. These points should show up in the final report....but you are at the mercy of the staff doing the drafting...will have to wait and see.