Vegetation Revisited Part II

Meanwhile, Chuck is still receptive to finding a test site for seeing how well his harvester will work. Ah, communication is wonderful. The humbling could be taken lightly except for it chipping at the fragile foundation of trust beginning to develop between the various fishing and environmental groups and the new administrator of aquatic resources in TP&W.
   Dr. Larry McKinney is the Senior Director for Aquatic Resources of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the issue of concern by fishermen, including the control of aquatic plants, are his area of responsibility. Dr. McKinney is originally from the marine section where pollution, chemicals in the water and fish, as well as fish kills are common issues.
   As to the Lake Raven flub, it appears there was a local open meeting and those in majority wanted to take the vegetation out of the lake. Historically, regional officials had the authority to deal with such decisions. The 200 grass carp (one per acre) were stocked. Apparently the offer made by Chuck to test his machinery had not been made known to Dr. McKinney, or any of the coalition folks.
   Clearly, Dr. McKinney was not covering up anything and he was not a happy camper since he was sensitized to the damage control he now had to deal with to re-establish trust with the fishing/environmental coalition. He did clarify that present aquatic plant control guidelines were agreed upon by a group functioning as an aquatic vegetation task force and actually sent me the document that identifies the members as representing groups having interest in effective and safe management of aquatic habitats. These organizations include Sportsmen's Conservationists of Texas, Clean Water Action, Sierra Club, Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Association of Bass Clubs, Lower Colorado River Authority, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, Consumers Union, Friends of Lake McQueeney, Texas Aquaculture Association, The Chemical Connection, Freshwater Anglers Association, Health Awareness and Water Knowledge, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Sabine River Authority. Remember, however, the policy as established for dealing with aquatic plants is applicable in water governed by TP&W. This means water under river authorities, US Army Corps of Engineers, land owners, etc. can go their merry way and use herbicides at will. Well, sort of. As we will look at the Tennessee case in a moment, but even there public concern groups had to require compliance with federal laws.
   By the way, Dr. McKinney said he was personally willing to oppose the use of herbicides for aquatic plant control. But, he said, the aforementioned groups wanted the department to be the gatekeeper to assure some type of control existed in determining who could do what, with what, in the public waters of Texas. He says he is reluctant to use herbicides and when they are applied it should be in very limited application.
   It should be noted again that Dr. McKinney sent me the documents to which I am referring in this article. His guidelines for staff include the first choice of aquatic vegetation control being a harvester or mechanical approach, followed by biological control (carp for example), and finally chemicals as a last choice with an emphasis on restricted application if they are to be used.
   When I think of grass carp I revert to the Conroe stories. At one time it was listed as one of the top five bass lakes in the United States. Then came carp and with them a rapid decline in vegetation and a fishery that required years to rebuild to a shadow of its hydrilla era.
   Dr. McKinney also said that he has instituted further policy on vegetation control. The department won't take exotics out unless they have a program for replacement with native plants. That is a far cry from the "scorched earth" mind-set of previous administration policy.
   His next statement is one that left me temporarily searching for the operator to see if I was hearing it from a TP&W official. McKinney said hydrilla can be a good plant, but in some circumstances can be a pain due to extensive overgrowth. He feels that about 30 percent coverage of the surface area of the lake with some sort of vegetation provides the best habitat.
   Rumors of the relationship of the die-off of bass at Sam Rayburn to black helicopters spraying hydrilla were also discussed. The link of spraying didn't match any data collected. McKinney had probed into the possibilities and provided me with a complete report from both the department and a private independent lab that tested some of the fish found dead at Rayburn. From a biological standpoint, chemicals as the culprit didn't match. For starters the die-off was species specific. Since Rayburn wasn't the only lake subject to high temperatures last summer, heat cannot be pinpointed as a factor either. And on the fishing pressure, angler induced concept, the map of the kill area interestingly indicates none of the kills were around weigh-in sites and at Rayburn there are heavy fishing pressure areas where no die-off occurred.
   Though it doesn't make things better, the likely culprit is an infection, virus or bacteria that preyed on bass specifically.
   I was greatly encouraged by his openness and frankness in general and hope the department gives Dr. McKinney the opportunity to build bridges with the groups who have banded together to protect the aquatic environment in Texas.
   The final part of our story consists of the "been there, done that" connection. Harold Sharp, tournament director for B.A.S.S. from 1970 until 1987, now operates Fishin' Talents, Inc., a firm representing professional anglers that negotiates contracts and appearance scheduling. His experiences with the herbicide to destroy vegetation story began some years ago with the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) attempt to get rid of Eurasian milfoil with the use of 2-4-D that spread to using it on other plants as well.
   In the battle over the use of herbicides anglers formed an organization and filed suit against the TVA. The suit was dropped when an agreement was reached to use only harvesters. It continues today with no use of herbicides by the TVA. Furthermore, in Tennessee, the Department of Health and fish and game folks control and authorize any use of herbicides in public waters.
   This doesn't seem like such a radical idea, an agency listening to and working with the people who pay their salary. Again remember, we don't have much in the way of protection in this state. Private citizens can, river authorities, Corps of Engineers, all have freedom to apply chemicals to vegetation.
   If Tennessee can place the approval process for using herbicides under state agencies maybe we should seek legislation during the next session to have better defined checks and balances in Texas.
   The final individual I spoke with was Ray Scott. His involvement with conservation and organized fishing is of course legendary. He made the point that you can't remove vegetation without destroying a major source of habitat for the fundamental life forms that are part of the food chain. In fact, he believes strongly that a given area of a body of water is automatically more fertile than a comparable sized barren area of the same water body.
   He also agrees that too much of anything can be bad, but he strongly disagrees with putting chemicals in a body of water when proven and successful intervention can be achieved with mechanical controls such as harvesters.
   So, the point we have reached in Texas is that unification has occurred of diverse interest groups that have the common goal of better water quality and therefore purer drinking water and better fisheries. The union of these groups working together offers some exciting potential for achievements. The presence of someone in TP&W who is open minded and shows a willingness to build bridges with these groups of caring citizens is also refreshing.
   Heck, if we're not careful the concept of all interest groups working together for the common good is an ideal I can handle and we better make it happen or we betray the trusts of future generations. Don't lose sight of the fact that man is the only species with the ability to improve the environment or literally destroy the world in which we live.