Letters to the Editor
Herbicide harm
April 23, 2008
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To the editor:
The curly-leaf pondweed is about to make its annual appearance at Lone Star Lake, and area anglers beseech lake residents and Douglas County Public Works not to spray herbicides on the pondweed. Instead, residents should allow the pondweed to wilt naturally. Once the water temperature reaches the low 70s in June, the pondweed will begin to diminish, and by July 4, it will virtually disappear.
Anglers also implore lake residents and Public Works officials not to employ such herbicides as Round Up and Rodeo around Lone Star and other nearby waterways.
Some knowledgeable observers maintain that many of the waters that Kansans fish, boat and swim in have been adversely affected by herbicides and other agricultural chemicals. Therefore, county residents and officials need to develop methods that will stop this pollution.
Ned Kehde,
Lawrence
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23 April 2008
at 6:47 a.m.
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gr (Anonymous) says…
“Therefore, county residents and officials need to develop methods that will stop this pollution.”Why?Doesn't produce CO2 imaginary pollution, does it?That's the only thing the enviro-wackos tell us to be concerned with.
23 April 2008
at 9:03 a.m.
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jafs (Anonymous) says…
Most environmentalists are concerned about a wide range of ways that we are polluting/destroying our environment, and have been for a long time.What are the non-environmentalists concerned about? Doing whatever they want regardless of the consequences?
23 April 2008
at 9:49 a.m.
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gr (Anonymous) says…
I was only referring to the wacko ones. The ones who believe that there is a way to measure the earth's temperature, that it's increasing (like it hasn't been and at the same time that it has been much warmer), that we are causing it, and that we can stop it. Those who believe it's an established fact, without knowing of any facts, the ones who think there is nothing which could prove it wrong. Those are the ones I was referring to - the bozo-types.
23 April 2008
at 10:13 a.m.
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blue73harley (Anonymous) says…
Maybe we could all pitch in and buy Merrill some waders so he could pull the weeds?
23 April 2008
at 1:19 p.m.
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GIHAWK (Anonymous) says…
Its you type of people that have caused the environment to be where it is now…..
23 April 2008
at 3:18 p.m.
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foodboy (Anonymous) says…
I think part of the letter writer's point is that there is no point in using herbicides when they are unnecessary. They are frequently petroleum based and are a waste of money and resources when the problem can be taken care of by doing nothing. These poisons also are detrimnental to other flora and fauna.
23 April 2008
at 7:03 p.m.
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jimincountry (Anonymous) says…
Most reasonable people believe that pollution needs to be curbed! Al Gore has set the fight against pollution back by his alarmist propaganda about inundating the world with melting glaciers and dying polar bears.
23 April 2008
at 11:11 p.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
Crappie surfaces to feed, bites pondweed, spits it out saying.'I Hate Dressing on my Salad!”
24 April 2008
at 1:41 a.m.
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riverat (Joe Hyde) says…
I have fished Lone Star frequently over the last four years. In the lake's “cabin arm” leafy pondweed gets growing early in the season and at its peak the patches are so dense that not even powerboats can navigate through the green mass without fouling their props. It probably goes without saying that the lake's cabin owners (most of whom have boat docks) are who complained loudest and most effectively to have aquatic herbicide applied as a means of keeping that arm open to navigation.As a fisherman, though, I feel uneasy about this use of herbicides. Whether we humans like leafy pondweed or not, aquatic insects do rely on all types of aquatic vegetation for food, for protection and for living space during their life cycles. Since aquatic insects (particularly nymphs) comprise the dietary bulk for all gamefish in Lone Star Lake, any program that deliberately destroys the habitat needed by these insects will have a negative impact on the quality of the lake's fishery.Mr. Khede has likely researched the life cycle of leafy pondweed carefully before submitting this Letter to the Editor. If he is correct — that this weed dies off naturally around early July — then I certainly agree with him that the best and most cost effective way to deal with the problem is to recognize that pondweed blooms are temporary and short-lived. Therefore, why not skip the chemicals and let nature take its course? We'd be saving money and, by protecting the habitat needed by aquatic insects, we'd also be significantly helping the fishery.Surely the main reason why people built boat docks in the cabin arm was so they could launch boats and go fishing. If the aquatic insect food supply the fish rely on is diminished by annual destruction of plant habitat, then the fish supply is the next thing to go. With a reduced gamefish population, what good is owning a boat dock — much less a cabin — on Lone Star Lake?
24 April 2008
at 2:45 a.m.
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Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…
riverat joethe man in the knowcan't wait til the spring when thenymphs start to showhttp://www.flyanglersonline.com/Warm Water Section.