A nearly full house gathered on the top floor of the Alachua Public Library to voice their concerns and advice to the Fish and Wildlife Commission during the public input session, one of several held around the state.
SFR board member Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson speaks.
The FWC recently placed a temporary moratorium on aquatic spraying until a number of community input sessions could take place. The public may submit comments at invasiveplants@myfwc.com on the FWC website.
The public spoke for nearly two hours. Many requested mechanical harvesting over chemical use. Many duck hunters and fishermen welcomed the vegetation as food and cover for wildlife.
Questions were submitted anonymously and fielded by the board at the end of the session. One was as follows: “Has any relationship been drawn between nitrogen and phosphorus loading in our waterways and the growth production of invasive species? If so, can polluters/point sources be better managed?
The answer by the board was that it is a huge relationship stemming mostly from fertilizer. They added that the FWC is not the DEP and that all must work together to attack this problem.
