What Happened to Hundreds of Acres of Button Bush on All Four Sides of the Lake?

I have been doing Louisiana swamp tours at Lake Martin for over 20 years and I have been there fulltime now for the last 15 years.


Here is an image I recently photographed while on tour of an area that was once covered with floating mats of plants that provide food for wading birds. That area was attacked with herbicides by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Division of Plant Research and Control about 10 years ago. When I called Richard Martin with the Nature Conservancy and asked him why were hundreds of acres of button bush being killed all around the lake he did not believe me. I invited him out to see and when he came out and saw for himself he agreed that the plant control activities at Lake Martin were out of control. Bear in mind that the button bush that were killed were not targeted as a problem plant but were merely in the way of herbicide being applied to the floating mat of plants. What is more absurd is the the plants being killed were indigenous species that support the food chain leading to the wading birds that roost and nest in the rookery. Specifically I am speaking of pennywort and aquatic bladderwort. The area in the photo above once allowed wading birds to walk around on these floating mats of plants and feed upon shrimp, crawfish, snails, and small fish. As the birds walk upon the mat it is forced down slightly and flushes the small fry up where the birds can prey upon it also large fish like bass, bream and crappie are congregated under the mats and feed upon the food above and in some respects there is a symbiotoc relationship between the fish below and the birds above driving food bothways to the benefit of each other. Below is a photo of birds walking around on a floating mat of plants feeding on shrimp, crawfish, snails and fish.



Here is an update posted by KATC 8/1/2017

Drawdown planned for Lake Martin

Posted: Aug 01, 2017 1:23 PM CDTUpdated: Aug 01, 2017 1:23 PM CDT

 

Lake Martin

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has scheduled a drawdown for vegetation control on Lake Martin in St. Martin Parish. The drawdown is scheduled to begin after the Labor Day holiday on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

The lake level will be lowered 2 to 3 feet below pool stage, a statement from the department indicates. This level is required to successfully dry out aquatic nuisance vegetation, officials say.  The lake is scheduled to return to pool stage by January 31, 2018, by pumping in water from Ruth Canal.  Filling the lake at this time will ensure adequate water levels for spring-time spawning, officials say. 

This action is a necessary component of LDWF’s integrated management plan developed to control overabundant aquatic vegetation growth and to improve the Lake Martin sport fishery. It will also enhance the buttonbush and bald cypress forest regrowth in the bird rookery, officials say. 

While the drawdown may impact navigation in parts of the southern end of the lake for duck hunters in late fall and winter, it is anticipated that hunting and fishing on the majority of the lake will not be affected. The lake will not be closed to fishing during this time, officials say. 

Other recent control efforts include regular herbicide applications for floating and emergent vegetation, and the release of 2,680 triploid grass carp in November 2015 to control the growth of submerged vegetation. Herbicide spraying will be conducted during the drawdown in accessible areas, according to the LDWF.