No-Phosphate lawn fertilizer important to duck hunters?

[hitch]

Attached is the latest revision of our urban turf fertilizer fact sheet, informally peer reviewed by leading experts in the field, who are working with us on this issue.

The fact sheet explains how fertilizers used on lawn turf are unnecessarily primitive in formulation and these unnecessary ingredients damage the food web for ducks and other wildlife including fish when the excess nutrients run-off and leach into our native watersheds.

Please read, copy and distribute this easy to understand one page article, and please support us when the time comes on this and other related habitat restoration efforts.

Thank You

John Hitchcock
UW-F VP/Secretary

[brightlights]

I got my copy through the yahoo groups, did you put it up on Florida Sportsman Consevation forum, If not I will.

BTW it looks great and simple enough to understand at any level.

[marsh master]

Isn't the entire state sitting on a bed of limerock composed mainly of phosphorous which in turn our rainwater perculates thru? we all know how water soluble limerock is. It breaks up very easy. Sounds more like feel good liberal global warming type propaganda to me.

[brightlights]

Isn't the entire state sitting on a bed of limerock composed mainly of phosphorous which in turn our rainwater perculates thru? we all know how water soluble limerock is. It breaks up very easy. Sounds more like feel good liberal global warming type propaganda to me.


I am surprised that someone from Crystal Springs would feel that way, especially after the most recent reports of the most trace elements of Pharmacetical drugs being found in the once pristine underground aquifers of Florida.

I believe that if you look into the Phosphate runoff problems a bit more you will see things differently than you do now.

Do a google search on Everglades restoration, or Indian River Estuary.

[hitch]

Isn't the entire state sitting on a bed of limerock composed mainly of phosphorous which in turn our rainwater perculates thru? we all know how water soluble limerock is. It breaks up very easy. Sounds more like feel good liberal global warming type propaganda to me.

Yep,

I'm sure it does sound that way to some. Tree farmers should be worried.

[Randy Clark]

heck just get out in the marsh there Master and look at the river of muck i mean the st johns i wonder where all that filtered water went maybe to the counties sucking it off the top

[duckmanJR]

All you have to do if you want to see the devastating effects of overnutrification is to look in the Indian river lagoon and see what has happened to what was once miles of unbroken grass flats....barren deserts and what is left is covered in brown algea.

[Dennis]

Isn't the entire state sitting on a bed of limerock composed mainly of phosphorous which in turn our rainwater perculates thru? we all know how water soluble limerock is. It breaks up very easy. Sounds more like feel good liberal global warming type propaganda to me.

Although I don't live in Citrus County I have visited for now 37 years I consider Gator, Rodney,The Hammer, Cricket, and Ludy to be friends and many of the old now gone netters. Also I have owned property's at Mason Creek, and now Chassahowitzka. The fertilizer issue is very much a valid concern in this county. The BoCC was near passing a county wide black out during the rainy season for lawn turf fertilizer in 06, until the state law that failed became front page news...they wanted to wait and see if the state would do it for them..mean while agreements were made with lawn maintenace Companies not to add phosphorous in the lawn chemicals used to treat lawns, but Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace Hardware etc. still sells these products. The sand over carst limestone is a direct route for phosphate to enter ground water...in Citrus County.... the springs. These waters now enriched with phosphorus and until the recent sewering of the springs area West of HWY 19... nearby properties nitrates, leaching from septics has created the problems with the high bacteria in the spring waters and exotics such as hydrilla choking out the native grasses...Citrus County Aquatics works diligently to sterilize the canals and waters of the spring fed rivers of Citrus Co. Killing the hydrilla, native vegetation and with the mechanical harvester, further distributing water lettuce and other non native vegetation that utilizes the enriched water much better than the turtle grass, eel grass, coon tail, etc. These plants by design, live in "dead" water with nearly O.OO nutrients..because of the natural filtration thru the aquafer and then resurfacing in a boil thru the springs...This affects ALL inhabitants of Florida..So when you see manatees munching hydrilla in Kings Bay, Homosassa, or Chassahowitzka, it is the available food source and not the native prefered forage.