Elodea

Summer treatments diminished elodea in three lakes

As the Kenai Peninsula’s lakes ice over, the three in which the invasive waterweed elodea were found this summer have been largely freed from infestation,… Continue reading

 

What to watch for: a strand of Elodea trying to hitchhike on a boat trailer from Sports Lake to another waterbody on the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Your photo can save salmon on the Kenai Peninsula

So here’s a riddle. What’s green, likes water but travels by airplane, is freely passed around but is actually quarantined in Alaska, and has the… Continue reading

 

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge intern Kyra Clark rakes masses of the invasive waterweed elodea from the Soldotna-area Sport Lake on Tuesday, May 16. Behind her, staff from the Refuge, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and the Kenai Watershed Forum prepare to launch the two boats that will target elodea with the herbicides diquat and fluridone. Following Tuesday’s herbicide discharge into Sport Lake, Refuge biologist John Morton said there’s a three-day safety restriction on drinking the lake water, but none on swimming or fishing. He also cautioned against sprinkling the herbicide-treated water on lawns or gardens. A second round of diquat and fluridone will be put into Sport Lake in September, Morton said, to contnue killing elodea through the winter. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Photo: Raking the lake

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge intern Kyra Clark rakes masses of the invasive waterweed elodea from the Soldotna-area Sport Lake on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Behind… Continue reading

 

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge intern Kyra Clark (left) and Kenai Watershed Forum Invasives Specialist Jennifer Peura bag clumps of elodea pulled out of Sport Lake’s boat launch area on Thursday, May 4 near Soldotna. Refuge and Watershed Forum staff pulled about 30 trashbags of the invasive waterweed from Sport Lake on Thursday and tentatively plan to begin treating it with herbicide on May 16. (Photo courtesy of John Morton/ Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Sport Lake elodea treatment could start May 16

A popular Soldotna-area lake infested with the invasive water-weed elodea may be getting its first dose of herbicide sooner than expected. The Alaska Department of… Continue reading

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge intern Kyra Clark (left) and Kenai Watershed Forum Invasives Specialist Jennifer Peura bag clumps of elodea pulled out of Sport Lake’s boat launch area on Thursday, May 4 near Soldotna. Refuge and Watershed Forum staff pulled about 30 trashbags of the invasive waterweed from Sport Lake on Thursday and tentatively plan to begin treating it with herbicide on May 16. (Photo courtesy of John Morton/ Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Permit may delay Sport Lake elodea killing

Elodea could be eliminated from Sport Lake near Soldotna before native vegetation emerges and before the summer crowd of pilots and boaters arrive, but only… Continue reading

Vibrant, green Elodea spews out from an ice-auger hole on Stormy Lake in 2013. Fluridone, an herbicide, can kill this perennial invasive plant even in winter because it apparently continues to photosynthesize under the ice. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Killing Elodea under the ice

Elodea, the first nonnative submersed freshwater plant to invade Alaska, was discovered on the Kenai Peninsula in late 2012. We now know that a hybrid… Continue reading

Vibrant, green Elodea spews out from an ice-auger hole on Stormy Lake in 2013. Fluridone, an herbicide, can kill this perennial invasive plant even in winter because it apparently continues to photosynthesize under the ice. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
Three agencies work together to spread fluridone pellets to eradicate elodea. Scott Schuler, SePRO, works the hose, John Morton, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, drives and Matt Steffy, Homer Soil and Water Conservation District, fills the hopper for pellet spreader. Photo courtesy of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Elodea eradication begins

Crews began eradicating elodea — an invasive aquatic plant — in two Nikiski-area lakes this week. Staff from the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a representative… Continue reading

Three agencies work together to spread fluridone pellets to eradicate elodea. Scott Schuler, SePRO, works the hose, John Morton, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, drives and Matt Steffy, Homer Soil and Water Conservation District, fills the hopper for pellet spreader. Photo courtesy of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
Photo courtesy/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Invasive plant elodea in one of the many ways it is transported from lake to lake.

Kenai Peninsula leads fight against elodea

A bill to help control Alaska’s elodea infestation was pulled out of the legislature on Monday after the Alaska Division of Agriculture quarantined the invasive… Continue reading

Photo courtesy/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Invasive plant elodea in one of the many ways it is transported from lake to lake.

Kenai Peninsula leads statewide elodea fight

Although elodea wasn’t discovered on the Kenai Peninsula until 2012, the peninsula is at the forefront of eradicating it. The invasive aquatic plant was discovered… Continue reading

Is it working? On the left, a typical rake sample of elodea from Beck Lake during surveys in 2013. (Photo by C. Anderson) On the right, a rake sample 13 weeks after Beck Lake was treated with fluridone in 2014. (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge photo)

Refuge Notebook: Progress on eradicating elodea from the Kenai Peninsula

I am fascinated by how plants and animals are named. Elodea, the first submersed freshwater invasive plant to infest Alaska, was named by the famous… Continue reading

Is it working? On the left, a typical rake sample of elodea from Beck Lake during surveys in 2013. (Photo by C. Anderson) On the right, a rake sample 13 weeks after Beck Lake was treated with fluridone in 2014. (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge photo)
John Morton/Kenai Wildlife Refuge Andrew Skibo (left) of chemical manufacturer SePRO oversees application of the herbicide Diquat at Daniels Lake, in a boat piloted by Kenai Wildlife Refuge Biologist Todd Eskelin (right) on Tuesday, June 3 2014. After being mixed with lake water, liquid Diquat enters the lake from a spray-hose on the rear of the boat.

Group declares partial victory over elodea

In a public presentation on Thursday, Kenai Wildlife Refuge Supervising Biologist John Morton said that herbicide treatments have eliminated elodea from two of the three… Continue reading

John Morton/Kenai Wildlife Refuge Andrew Skibo (left) of chemical manufacturer SePRO oversees application of the herbicide Diquat at Daniels Lake, in a boat piloted by Kenai Wildlife Refuge Biologist Todd Eskelin (right) on Tuesday, June 3 2014. After being mixed with lake water, liquid Diquat enters the lake from a spray-hose on the rear of the boat.
Fragments of the invasive water weed elodea lay in the snow beside an auger hole drilled on Sport Lake in February 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists found a small amount of elodea when drilling auger holes in preparation for an ice fishing event for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. (Photo courtesy Rob Massengill/Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Invasive elodea found in Sport Lake

The invasive water weed elodea has been identified in Soldotna’s Sport Lake. The lake is one of the most popular on the central Kenai Peninsula… Continue reading

Fragments of the invasive water weed elodea lay in the snow beside an auger hole drilled on Sport Lake in February 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists found a small amount of elodea when drilling auger holes in preparation for an ice fishing event for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. (Photo courtesy Rob Massengill/Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Lake Hood Elodea may threaten Kenai Peninsula

This summer the invasive waterweed elodea was eliminated from two of the three infected lakes on the Kenai Peninsula. However, recently discovered elodea in Anchorage’s… Continue reading

Spawning sockeye in Daniels Lake are beneficiaries of collaborative efforts to eradicate Elodea from the Kenai Peninsula. (Scott Shuler, SePRO)

Refuge Notebook: Elodea gone from the Kenai Peninsula?

The good news is that Elodea, the first submerged freshwater invasive plant to make it to Alaska, may be gone from the Kenai Peninsula. Last… Continue reading

Spawning sockeye in Daniels Lake are beneficiaries of collaborative efforts to eradicate Elodea from the Kenai Peninsula. (Scott Shuler, SePRO)
Tobias Schwörer, a researcher at the University of Alaska's Institute for Social and Economic Research, produced this map of floatplane bases and destinations for his study of how elodea, an invasive waterweed, could spread through the state. Floatplanes are a significant spreader of the weed, fragments of which can lodge in their rudders and floats.

Controlling elodea with data

Although the invasive water-weed elodea was officially eradicated from the Kenai Peninsula this summer, the statewide threat remains. Floatplanes, which can inadvertently carry colonies of… Continue reading

Tobias Schwörer, a researcher at the University of Alaska's Institute for Social and Economic Research, produced this map of floatplane bases and destinations for his study of how elodea, an invasive waterweed, could spread through the state. Floatplanes are a significant spreader of the weed, fragments of which can lodge in their rudders and floats.

Meeting to consider response to Sports Lake elodea

How to respond to the discovery of the invasive waterweed elodea in Soldotna’s Sports Lake will be addressed at an upcoming public meeting. Kenai Watershed… Continue reading