IMPROVING DUCK MARSHES 



''^WEED CONTROL 



Two factors explain why there is growing interest in the control 

 of marsh weeds. One is the advent of new and better herbicides 

 for the purpose. The other is the increasingly critical situation 

 facing the nation's duck-hunting resource — on which 21/^ million 

 Americans spend over a hundred million dollars annually. Already 

 more than half of the country's original 125 million acres of wet- 

 lands have been spoiled for waterfowl use. As national census 

 figures continue climbing toward the predicted 200-million mark, 

 more and more of the places where ducks feed, breed, and are 

 hunted will have to be converted to the needs of advancing civiliza- 

 tion. In other words, prospects are for fewer hunting places and 

 lesser numbers of ducks for larger populations of hunters. 



To help offset this trend, it is important to make the best use of 

 what is left. Thousands of poor or fair areas in the United States 

 can be made more useful for ducks and duck hunters by replacing 

 marsh weeds with plants that furnish food or cover for waterfowl. 

 Commonly, the costs involved are not prohibitive. 



In Florida recently, 20,000 acres of waterhyacinths and other 

 pest plants were cleared away from ponds and lakes by the Game 

 and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Numerous other programs, 

 both large and small, are being waged against phragmites, cattails, 

 waterchestnut, and other marsh weeds in various States. On the 

 Federal refuge system, more than 2,000 acres of marshlands are 

 treated with herbicides annually to make them more productive for 

 waterfowl. Yet all this is small compared with what can be done. 



MARSH WEEDS DEFINED 



Marsh plants are either assets or liabilities. Those that do not 

 benefit waterfowl do the opposite by competing with desirable vege- 

 tation and lowering usefulness of the habitat. Growths that do 

 not justify the space they occupy in terms of food or cover for 

 waterfowl are regarded as weeds. 



Species designated as weeds are not necessarily such in all places 

 and times. Usefulness or lack of usefulness of a particular kind 



