Getting paid to fish sounds like a dream come true to some. But does it have the same appeal if you're going up against a "fish from hell" that can travel on land and sink its teeth into a steel-toed boot?The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Inland Fisheries (DNR) is hoping so and is offering $200 gift cards through Bass Pro Shops to residents who capture and kill a snakehead, an invasive species from Africa that is upsetting the natural order of the local ecosystem. ...
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Photo credit: AP/Ed Wray
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Bill aims to combat invasive species
By CHRIS MORRIS - Staff Writer
Adirondack Daily Enterprise
A bill introduced in the [New York] state Senate last week aims to make the possession and sale of invasive species illegal.
The legislation is sponsored by state Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury. Its goal is to strengthen current regulations and prevent the spread of invasive species, which Little said pose a major threat to water bodies throughout New York state.
"Many of our lake associations and small towns are trying to deal with it," Little said. "Milfoil is one of the big things, but there's pond weed, there's zebra mussels, there's Asian clams, and there's also invasive species on land that are difficult to deal with.
"I think the most important thing about dealing with invasive species is through education to prevent them from entering our waters and from getting out of hand on land."
The bill would bar the sale of invasive plants, but Little admitted it does need some work. She said lawmakers are working with the state departments of Environmental Conservation and Agriculture and Markets to fine-tune the legislation. ...
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Staten Island Fights Reeds That Feed Its Brush Fires
By LISA W. FODERARO
The New York Times
Of all the natural calamities New Yorkers might face, brush fires are probably low on the list — unless one lives on Staten Island. There have been several thousand of them since the mid-1990s, fed by large stands of reeds known as phragmites that wave in the spring breeze like so much tinder.
Just ask Vincent Cajano, whose house was threatened by a fire in 2010. “It was a 20-foot-tall wall of flame,” said Mr. Cajano, who has since bought a 200-foot fire hose. “Until the firemen get here to help, what are you going to do — watch your house go?”
Now, city, state and federal officials have joined to devise a battle plan against the fires, which are fast moving and dangerous. The main target is Phragmites australis, an invasive grass found in wetlands throughout the world that can grow from 6 to 20 feet high.
According to their draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan, in extreme cases, phragmites (pronounced frag-MITE-eez) can burn at the rate of one to three football fields a minute, with flame lengths of 56 to 83 feet depending on wind speed. ...
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