Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says 2012 was a good year in its ongoing effort to contain an invasive plant in state wetlands.
DNREC treated over 6,700 acres with EPA approved herbicides in its battle with phragmites this year.
The hardy, non-native plant has deep roots and can spread out over 30 feet in a single year, displacing native plants that provide wildlife with better food and cover.
Bill James, a manager with DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, says this year’s spraying is typical of what’s been done over the last 5 years to contain phragmites.
“If we can break it up and allow some of those plants that have been in the marshes for centuries and centuries to come back in, we consider that a success story there from wildlife management purposes. The goal is really not eradication. It’s definitely management," said James.
James says much of this year’s spraying focused on Bayshore Initiative area between Delaware City and Cape Henlopen. DNREC treated more than 57 hundred acres in that area where phragmites thrive.
“Once you move up Delaware Bay, the salinities get lower in the Bay and in its tributaries and the phragmites actually grow more extensively in those areas. The plant gets taller. It gets up to about 14 feet high and it gets a lot thicker. And so natutrally we have our worst problem with it [there],” said James.
DNREC’s Phragmites Control Program has operated since 1986. It’s funded through a combination of federal and state funds - including some funds that come through the Farm Bill.