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Lake Okeechobee Aquatic Plant Management Interagency Task Force
Meeting Proceedings The following individuals attended the Lake Okeechobee Aquatic Plant Management Interagency Task Force meeting on 08 November 2017 at the SFWMD Service Center in Okeechobee, FL. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) David Lattuca Jon Lane Erica Skolte (Phone) Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Susanna Toledo Mariah McInnis Beacham Furse Andrea Dominguez Tyler Beck Mark McBride Brent Bachelder (Phone) Greg Clark (Phone) Matt Phillips (Phone) Alex Dew (Phone) South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Steve Smith Bobby Campbell Francois Laroche Libby Pigman Steve Salezar Linda Yarrish (Phone) Other Attendees Asa Godsey Bryan Honnerlaw Kurt Ramsey, Applied Aquatic Management Keith Mangus, Applied Aquatic Management Kelli Gladding, SePRO Corporation (Phone) James Boggs, Helena Chemical Co. Jason Cull, Lee County Hyacinth Control District Kevin Watts, Lee County Hyacinth Control District Marla Hamilton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Phone) Ramon Iglesias, Roland Martin Marina Mary Ann Martin, Roland Martin Marina Scott Martin, Roland Martin Marina Paul Gray, Audubon Florida Linda Defee, Aquatic Vegetation Control
Call to Order David Lattuca called the meeting to order at 10:00 A.M. Roll Call was taken. He reminded the group that the Task Force meeting is available through the AT&T Teleconference Services. The meeting is recorded and saved digitally. Meeting proceedings will be disseminated to the Task Force email distribution list and uploaded to the Task Force website: http://www.floridainvasives.org/okeechobee/ The Corps of Engineers shall chair, and actively solicit participation in the Lake Okeechobee Aquatic Plant Management Interagency Task Force. The Task Force members will represent State of Florida agencies (including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District), State Universities, the Corps of Engineers, and other Federal agencies. The Task Force will serve in an advisory capacity, providing multi-disciplinary technical and scientific data from which the Corps' aquatic plant management strategy, methodology, and research planning and operational efforts will evolve. The focus of the aquatic plant effort will be to benefit the overall ecological health of Lake Okeechobee Public Comment Period Scott Martin is a TV Host, Tournament Pro, and Fishing Guide. He lives in Clewiston and has been fishing Lake Okeechobee his whole life. He is not against “spraying”, and he “understands it needs to be done”. He spoke at the Lake Okeechobee Resource Management Public Meeting at the Clewiston Youth Center on 8/31/2017, about the idea or term “spray smart”. Scott Martin stated “Spray smart is looking at where you are spraying at certain times of the year based on several things such as water levels, where the fish are going to be based on where the water is the cleanest at that time”. Scott understands that Lake Okeechobee is constantly changing, especially areas that are productive for fishing and tourism. Scott Martin said that this is all about tourism, and we need to have a lake that produces fish for the tournaments. Clewiston and the surrounding communities rely on Lake Okeechobee. The spray smart initiative means “to get with anglers, like myself and Asa, other people, game and fish, to sit down and dissect this lake on a yearly bases and throughout the year to see what areas of the lake are going to be the most productive for fishing, what areas need to be left alone for certain times of the year based on spawning activity, water levels, etc.”. Scott Martin would like to have a “time out”, in order to really look at some areas to see if it needs to be sprayed. He doesn’t want the cattails along the edge of the water to be killed, so the dirty water can’t mix with the clean water. He understands that Water Hyacinth is an invasive species, but female bass like to use Water Hyacinth for cover. “The best press we can have for this Lake is when the tournaments come here and have record bags”. Scott Martin believes spraying should stop while there are many tourist fishing on Lake Okeechobee. “Maybe applicators can spray areas away from the areas that the fisherman use”. The first thing he would like to see is better maps showing exactly where spraying is going to be occurring. Scott is here to help the Task Force with spraying smart. Mark McBride with FWC said that “Everything that Scott is describing aligns perfectly with what duck hunters want.” Bryon Honnerlaw thinks that the proposed aerial treatment for 300 acres of water lettuce in the South End of the Lake is not a good idea because the cattail will brown out and uproot due to high water levels and wave action. Paul Gray with Audubon Florida likes the idea of the buffers around stressed habitat. David Lattuca thanked Scott Martin for speaking during the Public
Comment Period, and asked the members of the Task Force to work closely with Scott Martin and other stakeholders to spray smart and improve invasive species management on Lake Okeechobee. FWC Status Report Mariah McInnis reported that 2302 acres of floating plants (Eichhornia crassipes & Pistia stratiotes) were treated on Lake Okeechobee since the last Task Force meeting on 8/9/2017. Oxycaryum cubense, Luziola subintegra, Hymenachne amplexicaulis & Nymphoides cristata were also treated. FWC distributed posters at the bait shops and marinas that show these targeted species (Attachment #1). Currently, FWC is utilizing Applied Aquatic Management, Aquatic Vegetation Control, and Lake and Wetland Management. Currently there are 20-22 boat applicators being utilized on Lake Okeechobee.
Aerial Survey Report of Floating Vegetation An aerial survey was conducted prior to the interagency meeting on 10/4/2017 & 11/1/2017 flights.
Lake Okeechobee Interagency Flight
Date 10/4/2017 Lake Elevation 16.56 Summary of Estimates
Area of Lake Average % SFWMD AAM FWC USACE
1. Torrey & Kreamer 58.75 17% 85 75 20 55
2. Ritta 115.00 34% 100 150 50 160
3. East Wall - Coot Bay 55.00 16% 75 75 20 50
4. West Wall - Whidden 43.75 13% 15 100 30 30
5. Fisheating Bay 17.50 5% 10 25 20 15
6. Harney - Indian Prairie 13.00 4% 2 25 15 10
7. Indian P. - Kissimmee 11.75 3% 2 20 15 10
8. King's Bar 10.50 3% 2 20 10 10
9. Kissimmee - Taylor Cr. 3.00 1% 2 0 10 0
10. Taylor Cr. - Chancey 9.25 3% 2 20 10 5
TOTALS 337.50 100% 295 510 200 345 Participants: SFWMD, Bobby Campbell AAM, Kurt Ramsey FWC, Mariah McInnis USACE, David Lattuca
Lake Okeechobee Interagency Flight
Date 11/1/2017 Lake Elevation 17.01 Summary of Estimates
Area of Lake Average % SFWMD AAM FWC1 FWC2 L&W
1. Torrey & Kreamer 97.50 15% 90 150 50 100 75
2. Ritta 180.00 28% 200 250 120 150 200
3. East Wall - Coot Bay 123.75 19% 75 200 120 100 100
4. West Wall - Whidden 61.25 10% 70 75 60 40 75
5. Fisheating Bay 13.75 2% 20 10 5 20 25
6. Harney - Indian Prairie 37.50 6% 40 50 20 40 30
7. Indian P. - Kissimmee 18.75 3% 15 20 30 10 50
8. King's Bar 37.50 6% 40 50 20 40 25
9. Kissimmee - Taylor Cr. 61.25 10% 60 75 30 80 75
10. Taylor Cr. - Chancey 8.00 1% 10 5 10 7 5
TOTALS 639.25 100% 620 885 465 587 660 Participants: SFWMD, Alex Onisko AAM, Kurt Ramsey FWC1, Mariah McInnis FWC2, Susi Toledo L&W, Dave Johnson
USACE David Lattuca informed the group that the Removal of Aquatic Growth (RAG) Cooperative Agreement DACW147-85-H-0020 between USACE and FWC is working well. David Lattuca has been pleased with Susanna Toledo’s and Mariah McInnis’s management of invasive species on Lake Okeechobee. David Lattuca shared with the group that he has been satisfied with Applied Aquatic Management (AAM), Aquatic Vegetation Control (AVC), & Lake and Wetland Management applicators effort on Lake Okeechobee. David Lattuca presented to the group the FY17 Annual Report for the Lake Okeechobee and the Okeechobee Waterway (OWW), Removal of Aquatic Growth (RAG) Project (Attachment #2). FWC Susanna Toledo discussed the Lake Okeechobee Resource Management Public Meeting at the Clewiston Youth Center on 8/31/2017. The purpose of the meeting was to go over the public’s interests, comments, and FWC’s responses from the April 11, 2017 meeting along with a copy of the presentations that was given. The document from that meeting is nearly completed. There is a tentative Lake Okeechobee Resource Management Public Meeting slated for January 2018 in Okeechobee, FL. Beacham Furse spoke about FWC’s two tree islands in the northwest marsh were treated using AHRE’s funds in July for balsalm apple and moonvine. Also, FWC will be planting 2,300 hardwood trees/shrubs ferns species around the previously planted Cypress Fringe location in the northwest marsh when the water levels allow. Brent Bachelder spoke about a previous meeting between SFWMD, FWC, and FFS that helped create a request for applications for the 2017-18 Florida prescribed fire enhancement program. The program can provide “enhancement and implementation of Florida’s Prescribed Burning Program on public conservation lands, to reduce dangerous wildland fuel loading in high priority areas across Florida.” In addition to the funding request, FFS has provided a commitment to provide operational support for Lake O prescribed burns. This support includes: burn crew members, equipment, and burn management (i.e. obtaining authorizations and if necessary, bossing burns). FWC and SFWMD Lake O staff will work closely with Joe deBree, and other Lake O FAS’, to provide prescriptions and burn planning. Brent Bachelder would like for the Lake O FAS’ to assist with Burn Unit Scouting in various areas throughout Lake Okeechobee Marsh. The current framework of the Lake Okeechobee Fire Management Team is that FWC is the lead agency in charge of prescribing fire for vegetation management within the Lake. Steve Smith (SFWMD) advised that it would be an appropriate time to start writing prescriptions for the western marsh in order to help create some fire breaks. Gary Russ (USACE) stated that the Corps’ will resume disking fire breaks along the HHD. Additional questions and/or burn requests can be forwarded to [email protected]
SFWMD Francois Laroche spoke on behalf of Alex Onisko’s proposed SFWMD treatments of Melaleuca on Lake Okeechobee (Attachment #3). SFWMD requests points of any known Melaleuca throughout the Lake. They are looking to treat small trees, seedlings, or missed large trees. Alex also requests communication from AHRE’s to share areas to avoid. New/Old Business Tyler Beck gave a update on the Snail Kite. As suspected, Hurricane Irma has caused all active Snail Kite nests on Lake Okeechobee to fail. There were roughly 44 active Snail Kite nests in the Moonshine Bay area before the storm and none are active anymore. There are still some kites in the area, including some recently fledged birds that were able to ride out the storm. Water levels have risen significantly on the lake and are expected to continue to rise. For this reason he removed all buffers from the previously active nests because renesting at this point is unlikely. Paul Gray mentioned that the Snail Kite Coordinating Committee had their fall meeting on 30 October 2017 in Vero Beach. You can receive the meeting notes by contacting Paul: Paul N. Gray, PhD Everglades Restoration Program Audubon Florida PO Box 707 Lorida, FL 33857 863-655-1831 office 863-202-6658 cellular [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Blockedhttp://fl.audubon.org/ <Blockedhttp://fl.audubon.org/> The Task Force briefly discussed the observed hurricane/high water impacts. *** The next interagency flight is scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month. ***The next interagency meeting will be scheduled in the near future Adjournment David Lattuca adjourned the Task Force meeting at 11:30 P.M.
Attachment #1. FWC Invasive Plants Scheduled for Treatment on Lake Okeechobee
Attachment #2. FWC Azzola Pinnata
Attachment #3. SFWMD Melaleuca Control on Lake Okeechobee
