Phragmites update as of November 5^th, 2009

 

Several UWA members attended a meeting on 11-05-09 with the DWR and the phrag volunteers for an update on the state of the phragmites battle.  From a hunter’s perspective, we have tried to list some of the highlights. 

 

The DWR will try to enact a stepped-up push at Farmington Bay next year in Turpin unit and Unit 2.  This is important because Farmington Bay receives a huge amount of hunter pressure and reclaiming some hunting areas from phrag would help disperse hunting pressure, increase hunting opportunity and may result in increased bag numbers.  This is great news for the thousands of hunters that use Farmington Bay WMA.

 

The State Division of Soveriegn Lands (FFSL) will continue to experiment with various control methods for phragmites in the Utah Lake area. The methods discussed were burning phrag over the ice, scraping phrag over the ice and they will also pursue any private interest in harvesting phrag for commercial use. The DWR is also interested in possibly spraying some sovereign lands near Harold Crane and Howard Slough in 2011.  This would really improve the situation for foot soldiers that used to hunt just outside the dikes in these areas.  Once again, this would allow for more hunter opportunity and great hunter dispersal.

 

The DWR still needs more volunteers to help with the spraying.  They are in the process of making it easier to sign up during the fall and spring by having a single point of contact.  We feel that this is a great idea and would really help more folks check their schedule against what the DWR may need on any particular day.  There was an increase of 20% in volunteer man hours this year compared to last year, and we hope to increase that number once again next year.

 

The DWR sprayed over 3000 acres in 2009.  17 days were spent spraying and equated to about 2 ½ acres per hour.  Approximately 1600 acres were sprayed from the ground and about 15oo acres were sprayed from the air.  The DWR would like to spray approximately 4000 acres next year.

 

As waterfowlers, we are proud to have DWR personnel that truly work hard toward improving the wetlands we all use and enjoy.  With the help of committed waterfolwers and hard-working WMA managers, we can really make a difference in the battle to re-claim our marshes!