Flowering rush public meeting planned
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There is a public scoping meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Polson Indian Senior Citizens Center, located at 701 1st Street East, next to Western Building Center, from 3 to 7 p.m. to discuss the formation of a program to implement annual herbicide treatments on flowering rush on the bed of Flathead Lake.
Flowering rush was first found in Flathead Lake in 1964 and has invaded the lake, upper and lower Flathead and Clark Fork Rivers and is now a concern downstream to the middle Columbia River.
Flowering rush forms dense vegetated conditions where previous open water dominated, degrading recreation, establishing under boatlifts, marinas and breakwaters and provides habitat favorable to invasive fish. Flowering rush creates vegetated conditions ideal for pond snails that is an alternate host of summers itch. Dense flowering rush impacts boat travel that is a key spread vector.
A management strategy of applying aquatic herbicide in mid-April during the lake draw-down low-pool conditions suppresses and reduces the impact of flowering rush. Research by Salish Kootenai College Extension and the University of Montana has shown 95 percent top growth suppression through the growing season, however, flowering rush recovers after a single year of treatment.
With annual treatments, there is an 80 percent reduction in the reproductive rhizomes after five years of treatments, showing we can reduce the impacts of flowering rush in Flathead Lake if we maintain ongoing treatments. There are funds available to support the first year of treatments if there is significant lakeshore owner interest.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide information about how a Flathead Lake Flowering Rush Controls Project may operate and to gather stakeholder issues, opportunities and concerns about implementing an ongoing program addressing flowering rush in the lake. If you want to provide comments in writing please send to Salish Kootenai College; c/o Virgil Dupuis; PO Box 70; Pablo, MT 59855, or email virgil_dupuis@skc.edu.
