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Steve Shows has been in contact with the LDWF. Below are the e-mails to date. |
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Steve Shows has been in contact with the LDWF. Below are the e-mails to date. |
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Steve,
Steve, Steve, Hopefully I can provide answers to some of the questions that have come up recently.
Herbicide applications would continue to the extent possible during the drawdown, especially in the deeper water areas that could be accessed by boat.
James Seales
Fisheries
Biologist
Manager
-
District
1 Good morning, James. Several discussions with various lake residents at events over the weekend generated several questions which you probably have the answers for: 1. Has the exemption to the Jindal imposed hiring freeze been granted for the employment of spray crew employees? What is the status? 2. Much discussion concerning lowering of the lake to concentrate Salvinia and provide for more efficient /concentrated spraying...Is this a consideration or is it a planned event and what is the schedule? 3. It seems the amount of Salvinia has lessened! I know that a large amount has gone over the spillway during the recent lake elevation increase, do you think that is reason for what appears to me to be a reduced amount of Salvinia? 4. What happened to the weevil plots that had been established on the Lake preceding the winter weather conditions? 5. Is the spray crew on Bistineau?...haven't heard from you or seen any evidence in several weeks. Regards, Steve shows 2-3-08 Steve, Today we received further clarification on the hiring freeze. Because the sprayer positions in all likelihood will be filled with a new employee (as opposed to a current employee), the positions are impacted by the hiring freeze. We have initiated the paperwork to request an exemption and fully believe the exemptions will be granted. However, it will cause a delay and because these are the first positions I have appealed, I have no idea how long it will take to be granted an exemption. We have a list of candidates and were in the process of setting up interviews. We are hopeful we will get approval before the current list of eligible candidates expires and we have to re-advertise. Senator Adley contacted me today and requested some information and offered his assistance. I informed him of our upcoming (probably in May) efforts to move massive amounts of weevil infested salvinia from a nursery area to other parts of the state. If we need additional resources to move the salvinia, we will let him know. We have not heard back from Prison Enterprises regarding contracting spraying with them. They did observe our operations and make of list of equipment needed. We will get in touch with them next week to see if they are still interested. Gary 1-18-08 Tuesday, I was both surprised and excited to see a spray boat crew on Fairview pt. Also, I was disturbed to see the hiring freeze enacted by Gov. Jindal. How will this effect the spray crew employment initiative? This must continue to be a high priority for LWF. We can and will, if necessary, get the cognizant legislators energized to assure the appropriate level of attention , to include pursuit of an exemption to the hiring freeze, is authorized. Pls let us know what action to take. Regards, Steve Shows 1-17-08 Steve, The District 1 spray crew has been on the water each day that was not an official state holiday during the last couple of weeks. Today was the first day they have not made an application as the boat was frozen solid to the trailer this morning when they tried to launch. When the boat did not break loose after being in the water 15 minutes we decided it was too cold to spray today. They plan on resuming spray activities mid morning tomorrow if the weather warms a bit as predicted. They have been using Reward for the last several weeks and were seeing good results prior to the freezing weather we are currently experiencing. In many areas on the lake the plants are showing damage from the hard freeze last night, but it is too early to tell how big an impact the weather has had on the giant salvinia.
James Seales Steve, A spray crew from District 1 spent a couple of days on Bistineau this week, weather and equipment problems hampered some planned applications. Plans are to spray several days next week on the south end of Bistineau.
James Seales Steve, District 1 personnel have been spraying this week predominantly on the south end of Bistineau. The contract spray crew wrapped up their work on Clark’s Bayou on Tuesday. Plans for next week include more applications on the south end of the lake by District 1 personnel.
James Seales Steve, As I indicated in last week’s e-mail the contract sprayers will be up the week of November 26, they will be making applications to giant salvinia in the Spring Branch area and Clark’s Bayou, and alligatorweed on the north end of the lake. I plan on having District 1 personnel spend several days next week on Bistineau spraying giant salvinia. No applications were made this past week on Bistineau. In response to your comments in your November 20, e-mail, the only other response that can be updated from the November 1 e-mail that I sent you or the October 12 e-mail from Gary Tilyou is the news that we will have one additional sprayer starting to work on Dec. 3. This will give me 2 full-time sprayers and 4 vacancies that are in various stages of the lengthy process of filling the positions. We are still posting fliers at various locations around the area in efforts to recruit candidates for the sprayer positions. You also mentioned as to whether the problem on Lake Bistineau is still manageable. The salvinia situation on Lake Bistineau may continue to get worse before it gets better, but our Department has not given up on efforts to control the vegetation. We continue to explore new ideas, techniques, and chemicals that may be beneficial in controlling the salvinia on Lake Bistineau and other waterbodies in this District and throughout the state. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving,
James Seales Good morning...I am well aware that most everyone is focusing on the Thanksgiving holiday; however, just so everyone understands , the Salvinia problem is getting worse by the day...the attached pics are of the N. shore of Catfish pond and graphically demonstrate the magnitude of the problem...we have NEVER seen Salvinia to this magnitude which certainly conveys that the spray efforts to date are not working....the spray intensity has got to increase commensurate with the magnitude of the problem...it is not receiving appropriate level of attention. Where are the contract sprayers? prison inmates? new hires? This is fast becoming a totally out of control problem. Sec. Hammett ,in September correspondence, indicated we had a manageable problem on Lake Bistineau. Today, I'm not sure he could make that statement ...Bistineau is not receiving the appropriate level of attention. Please advise what actions we can expect in the near term and in the long term. We eagerly await your response...
Steve Shows See pictures at http://lakebistineau.com/salvinia/index.htm Steve, We had crews in from other areas of the state this week to assist on Bistineau. Areas where applications were made included the south end near the dam, Plum Orchard and Green Park, Big and Little Toodlum, Snake Island and Bream Island. The high winds were a major hindrance to operations this week. I have talked again with the contractors and they are planning on coming up the week of November 26 to spray salvinia in Clark’s Bayou and Spring Branch, and alligatorweed on the north end of the lake. There are no herbicide applications planned on Bistineau by District 1 personnel next week.
James Seales Steve, We have had spray crews up from south Louisiana making applications on Bistineau this week. They have sprayed areas where salvinia is concentrated from Catfish Pond south to the dam, with the exception of Spring Branch. Applications were also made in Brushy, Big Toodlum, south of Clark’s Bayou, and to a large mat of salvinia between State Park Areas 1 and 2. We plan on having 3 crews from other areas of the state come in next week to aid in salvinia control in this District. Current plans include more applications on the south end of the lake and around the State Park. I have spoken with the contract sprayers we plan on using for applications to salvinia in Spring Branch and Clark’s Bayou, and for alligatorweed on the north end of the lake. They should be back in contact with me in the next couple of days so we can schedule when they will be coming to Bistineau.
James Seales Steve, In one of LDWF’s new and expanded budget requests for 2008/2009, we have included $200,000 for an aquatic plant harvester. There are many harvester designs, including suction dredges, that we will consider if the funding is approved. Although any harvester will have limited applicability, primarily due to stumps and trees, we feel a harvester could be used near the dam and it the main channel. I also feel a suction type dredge could be the best type. Although I don’t know this for a fact, it would seem the barge could remain in the main channel while the hose could be taken into the trees. Off-loading and disposal of material is also a major undertaking and will require a significant investment and possibly the cooperation of lake front property owners. We can work out any details if we are successful in getting the funds.
Gary A. Tilyou
This morning , during one of multiple daily phone calls
on subject matter, a suggestion was made that warrants
consideration by LDWF. The suggestion is: During a
recent construction project in Shreveport a suction
dredge was used to pull dirt/sand from the Red River and
transport via a temporary pipeline to provide fill in a
low lying area and to provide a foundation
for subsequent construction activities....perhaps, this
same technology could be applied to "vacuum" salvinia
for removal from Lake Bistineau and transport out of the
Lake for subsequent disposal. Please provide your
comments. Steve, Personnel from District 1 spent two days this week making herbicide applications on the south end of Lake Bistineau. We have scheduled 4 additional crews to come next week to Lake Bistineau, and are currently working on a schedule for the week of the 12th to utilize crews from other areas of the state. We are getting a good response to the fliers we have distributed concerning the sprayer positions, this hopefully will give us a good pool of applicants to choose from as we continue the process of filling the vacant sprayer positions in District 1. I have one new sprayer technician who has been on board about a month, the other five sprayer technician positions are currently vacant. We are at different stages of the quite lengthy process of obtaining approval to fill a position, accepting applications, conducting interviews, performing reference checks, and gaining final approval to hire an applicant with the other positions. As we have indicated before Inland Fisheries Division has little control over the time it takes to fill a position. A work order has been submitted to the contractor for experimental test applications to giant salvinia in two different areas on Lake Bistineau. This will include the Spring Branch area, where we have already done a considerable amount of spraying and substantially thinned the dense mats in this area. The other area will be the Clark’s Bayou area, which is representative of a fairly new infestation. The results of these test applications will determine whether the contractor will be used in the future for giant salvinia control. It is very difficult to assess the results of a contractor’s application on giant salvinia in many areas as the plant moves with the wind and water currents. A work order has also been submitted to the contractor for alligator weed control in several areas on the north end of the lake. At this time we have not heard back from the contractor as to when they will be making these applications. I have discussed the matter of utilizing prison labor with Gary Tilyou, Inland Fisheries Division Administrator. If prison labor is utilized for herbicide applications, it will be a turnkey operation similar to a contractor. The Department has met with Prison Enterprises concerning the use of prison labor for aquatic vegetation control. A representative from Prison Enterprises has come out and seen how our spray boats operate, the level of training and expertise required to make successful herbicide applications, and the equipment required to make the applications. This person will now go back to Prison Enterprises and they will sit down and decide whether they want to pursue this venture. If Prison Enterprises does want to participate they will have to purchase spray boats, pumps, and herbicides, and train the prison labor force to use this equipment. We do not plan on supplementing our labor group with prison labor, but utilize them similar to the way we would use a contractor if an agreement is reached. There may be some instances where we can utilize prison labor, such as harvesting weevil infested giant salvinia and transporting to various lakes, but the details of this have not been worked out. We do not plan on moving additional weevil-infested salvinia until around April of next year due to the life cycle of the weevils. Between now and then we will develop a comprehensive weevil stocking program for the entire state. The very limited resources of the Inland Fisheries Division in District 1 have been almost wholly allocated to the salvinia control efforts in the affected waterbodies in this District since midsummer. All standardized fisheries sampling has been curtailed to utilize employees who normally conduct these samples in the herbicide applications and salvinia weevil introductions. Lake Bistineau has received far more attention than any other lake in this District and the entire state of Louisiana this past year. Our plan to attempt the control of giant salvinia on Lake Bistineau is to: 1. Make herbicide applications as often as possible, including spraying later in the winter as long as we are seeing positive results from the applications. If winter sprayer is successful, crews from other areas of the state will be more available than during normal application periods. 2. If the test applications are successful we plan to utilize contractors to the extent possible, realizing that there must be a means to assess the effectiveness of a contractors application. 3. Incorporate Prison Enterprises into the herbicide applications if an agreement is reached with them to conduct these applications. 4. Use the giant salvinia weevil as a biocontrol measure, this will include monitoring of release sites and making additional releases and relocations in the future. 5. Research the types of mechanical harvesters available and if the 2008/2009 expanded budget request is funded make plans to purchase a harvester and test its effectiveness on Lake Bistineau. 6. Drawdowns will be considered in the future, once the headcutting problem is resolved or a temporary repair is made to the outflow channel into Loggy Bayou and DOTD gives us clearance to proceed with a drawdown. James Seales 11-1-07
Fisheries Biologist Manager - District 1 While we appreciate your periodic report, there is a lot that is not being communicated? For example,
!. When does LWF plan to return sprayers from other
areas of the State to Bistineau.?
2. How is the employment effort progressing?
3. Is the contract spraying underway or scheduled for
when? Where will this effort be concentrated?
4. What about supplementing the labor group with
inmates? Has that progressed?
From our perspective, the giant Salvinia problem has not
been effectively addressed...this noxious vegetation is
winning and from the LWF reports very little is being
done on Lake Bistineau to reverse this
invasive activity! There must be a plan ! To date and
since August 21 (meeting at the Church) we have never
been provided a plan of attack, there is an old
saying..."Failure to plan is planning to fail! " This is
a classic
example of that premise. We are very concerned citizens
starved for information and action .
Regards, Steve Shows
10-29-07
Steve,
We made
herbicide applications last week from the south end of the
mouth of Clark’s Bayou to Charlie Walker’s house. On Monday
they picked up where they had left off at Charlie Walker’s
and went to the Green Park area.
James
Seales Gary, thanks for your email dtd Oct 12 wherein comments were provided concerning some of the many questions and concerns that have been expressed by the very large group that we attempt to keep informed.
We do understand there are personnel issues and the bureaucracy
mandates some fairly strict hiring practices. I, nor any of the
folks I talk with, have ever seen a job description, applicant
requirements, etc. on the internet ,flyers or any of the local
media. How does the requirement get out to the public?
...I've heard several folks express varying degrees of interest,
including an offer to volunteer their services pro bono!
Our group is ready and willing to support whatever efforts the
LDWF develops to accelerate hiring and associated funding
levels. Please let us know how to help...lobbying the
legislature, the Division of Administration. Our sole intent is
to help however we can. Today, our group members are very
frustrated, concerned...it just seems that EVERYTHING consumes
what we perceive to be a very inordinate amount of time to see
results! As always, it will be our intent to have open and
candid communication...sometime that candor may seem to be a
personal attack...it is not intended that way....we, very
simply, are intensely concerned with our property values and the
ability to continue enjoyment on one of the most scenic bodies
of water in Louisiana.
We look forward to the contract spraying that you indicated
would begin in early November (3 weeks). Since the spraying
activity was ceased, about 3 weeks ago, the salvinia seems to
have spread with a semblance of vengeance.
Finally, we will look forward to a weekly informative email
concerning spraying activity and plans. I'm sure that we will
never think the spraying activity is adequate or commensurate
with the problem; at least we can have information as to what
LDWF is planning
Regards, Steve Shows
10-15-07
Steve, The department has limited experience treating giant salvinia, but we have learned a great deal. We are now using better combinations of herbicides and surfactants; we have learned better application techniques and have modified the application equipment we have been using. Our experience and research also has us concerned that if we do not get a cold winter, or the weevils we are putting out do not assist with control, or a more effective herbicide treatment is not developed, the statewide control of giant salvinia will require a huge funding commitment by the state, significantly more than is now available. Within the last 2 weeks, we have found giant salvinia in 3 additional waterbodies. If giant salvinia continues to spread in Louisiana at the rate it has in the last two years, I feel that within 10 years giant salvinia will become established in most Louisiana waterbodies. Below are specific comments to your October 4th email.
1. We totally agree there are major problems in hiring
sprayers. Some of the problems are bureaucratic hurdles over
which we have no control. However, our basic problem is getting
people to apply for positions. We are trying different
recruitment strategies such as posting fliers and paying for
newspaper ads. We have also increased the starting pay for
sprayers and will soon be initiating additional pay incentives.
We are proceeding as quickly as possible. We have already met with the spraying contractor to discuss concerns, both theirs and ours, regarding what we expect as deliverables when they treat giant salvinia. We have worked out enough details to have a trial application and plan to utilize the contractor on Lake Bistineau in the next 3 weeks. 2. The long-term scheduling of spray crews from other parts of the state to assist at Lake Bistineau would hinder our statewide control efforts. We will continue to send crews to Lake Bistineau when available. Lake Bistineau is only one of over a dozen waterbodies in Louisiana with giant salvinia. It is a tremendous problem wherever it is found and the people being impacted are letting us know. We will allocate our very limited resources in the manner we feel is best for the entire state of Louisiana. 3. Staff at district 1 are posting emails as quickly as possible. The giant salvinia problems in District 1 have required us to shift our priorities. Much of our standardized fish sampling for this year has been eliminated as we deal with treating salvinia and respond to salvinia complaints. We will make a concerted effort to send you an email once a week to inform you where we treated in the current week and our plans for next week. However, detailed responses such as this one require a significant time to prepare. 5. The Department recognizes that giant salvinia has the potential to become more of a problem in Louisiana than water hyacinths. At one time the Department had 85 spray personnel, or 42 crews, however we do not currently have funding for 42 crews. We obtained approval to hire 2 permanent and 8 temporary sprayers in the 2007/2008 budget. When all positions are filled, we will have 48 personnel or 24 crews. As noted earlier, recruiting and keeping sprayers is difficult. We currently have 16 vacancies and only 14 of the 24 crews have both members present. An increase in head count requires Division of Administration and legislative approval. In our budget request for 2008/2009 we are requesting to make the current 8 temporary sprayer positions permanent and are also requesting an additional increase in headcount. If we receive this additional funding, these new positions will be based at a waterbody instead of being based at a field office, including Lake Bistineau and Caddo Lake. I hope these responses have answered your questions.
Gary A. Tilyou James,
Thanks
for the response albeit not too comforting. Before creating this
response, I slept on it overnight just so I would not be too
negative concerning the current state of affairs....regardless, I do
not intend to make this a personal attack; rather a fair assessment
of the current situation from my perspective. Please consider the
following:
Steve,
James Seales This past week we have been spraying Aquamaster in most areas. This is a glyphosate herbicide that translocates through the plant whereas the Reward that we had been applying is a contact herbicide and only burns the area it touches.
The change was implemented as in many of the areas we are
spraying the mats were thinner than during past applications and
we felt as though this would possibly be more effective. It
will take longer to see results, at least a week and this time
will increase as the weather cools.
James Seales "Go here" to see LDWF Secretary, Bryant Hammett's response letter to the 8-21-07 meeting that we had. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the letter. Go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html if you need a copy of this software) 9-26-07
We have had crews spraying on the south end of the lake
up to Camp Bistino. Today they are planning on going
back down to the south end and hitting any areas that
was missed on Monday. We should also have crews coming
in next week for Bistineau.
James Seales
Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries
THE LATEST PLAN FROM LDWF JUST ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY"....
Letter from
Gary Tilyou
-Steve Shows 9-13-07 - Thanks for your address. As you are probably aware, of the 6 sprayer positions for District 1, 5 are vacant. For 2 positions we advertised recently, we received one applicant. We plan to make a major recruiting effort in the next 2 weeks to fill the vacancies. We have pieced together one crew for District 1 and they have been spraying on Bistineau. This week we have 4 crews from other districts on Caddo. Next week, 4 crews will return to Bistineau. Depending on results in Caddo, the following week, 4 crews will either go to Caddo or Bistineau and this will continue for a total of 5 weeks |
