Caddo = Can Do!

Back in February of this year, the ISW posted about efforts to protect Caddo Lake in Texas from the invasive aquatic plant known as giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta). Flash forward to July 30th, when biosparite sent in a link to a New York Times article about the very same lake...and holy cow! They've managed to wrangle some serious support for what originally seemed to me to be a low-level grassroots effort. First, they got Don Henley, former Eagle and enviro-champion extraordinaire, to voice his concerns for the current state of the lake (turns out Don actually keeps a trailer on the lake). There's already a Caddo Lake Institute established by Henley and friends that predates the salvinia invasion. Then, concerned citizens raised $35,000 to purchase a giant net (two miles wide!) to isolate the more salvinia-ridden portions of the lake. Now, this past week, the Texas legislature appropriated over $200,000 for controlling salvinia in the lake. We're talking some serious advocacy here, no?

This tiny post really can't do the NYT artlce justice, so do head over there to read the full story. Thanks biosparite!

Swamp Things

I was searching the 'nets today for information about the giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) infestation in Caddo Lake, Texas, and I was surprised to find that there was already a YouTube video on the the subject. From it, I learned that Caddo Lake is the only naturally formed lake in the state of Texas, that funding is desperately needed to help manage the giant salvinia invasion, and that the trees of the cypress swamp makes it nearly impossible to navigate the invaded areas with anything other than some hip waders and possibly a backpack sprayer full of herbicide.

The video notes that there is no government agency claiming jurisdiction over the lake, which makes getting the resources and funding for management even more difficult. The Caddo Defense Organization, formed back in 2001, is a partnership of several concerned stakeholders, and has plenty of information about the salvinia problem, as well as concerns about water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and other threats to the lake.