In what surely has to be one of the longest running eco-system comedies going, Lake Davis pike removal comes back for another act.
One has to hope, for the community's sake, that the state gets it right this time.
An excerpt.
New bid to kill invasive fish pest
State officials plan to use chemicals to rid Lake Davis of pike.
By Janet Vitt -- Bee Correspondent Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, September 2, 2006
PORTOLA -- It's official: The California Department of Fish and Game wants to treat Lake Davis with chemicals to eradicate northern pike, a non-native species that has invaded the Plumas County reservoir since 1994.
In an environmental study released Friday, state officials chose an alternative that would draw the 70,000-acre-foot reservoir down to a 15,000-acre-foot pool and apply liquid rotenone to Lake Davis, as well as tributary streams, ponds and springs within the watershed.
The proposed action is one of seven options outlined in the environmental impact report issued jointly with a U.S. Forest Service environmental impact report.
The other alternatives range from no treatment to killing the pike by completely dewatering Lake Davis using no chemicals. Between these extremes are alternatives that vary the types of chemicals used and the degree of the reservoir drawdown.
Fish biologists are convinced that if pike are not eradicated from Lake Davis, they will almost certainly spread to other waters within the state, threatening native fish species and the economic benefits they provide.
The project, proposed for next fall, could cost up to $10 million, said Ed Pert, Lake Davis pike eradication project manager. The department, which will make the final decision, has already spent between $4 million and $5 million on the environmental analysis, said department spokesman Steve Martarano.
The department first chemically treated Lake Davis nine years ago. The 1997 project went badly, leaking chemicals downstream and causing local health problems. It also generated tremendous local hostility and cost the state about $20 million, said Martarano.
Worse yet, pike reappeared in the reservoir 18 months later.
Since then state officials have used a manage-and-control approach to the Midwestern native species. They have hooked, netted, trapped, shocked and blown up the invaders in an effort to control the population.
The current eradication proposal comes at the request of the local community, which has seen its tourist-based economy plummet with the pikes' domination over state-stocked trophy trout. The department has worked closely with local residents and business owners, said Pert.
