The first official Task Force meeting on September 25, 2002 included representatives of many local, state and federal agencies including; impacted land owners. Pender Countv Commissioners. NC/ Pender Cooperative Extension, NCDA, NCDENR, USDA APHIS, USGS, NC State University, private industry, The Nature Conservancy, NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

At the present time, the Task Force under the leadership of Wayne Batten, Pender Co. Cooperative Extension Service, and Randy Westbrooks, are applying for a grant from the ‘Pulling Together Weed Management Grant Program’ through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This grant program was set up by NFWF in 1998 in association with the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious Weeds (FICMNEW) The grant application is due in early November 2002. This grant with related cost-share money will provide funding for surveys, control activities, outreach and education.

The Task Force is not just waiting for funding they are taking a proactive approach to the problem. On October 9, Dean Horkavy and Mark Gamble, NCDNR treated parts of Riverbend with the much appreciated help from Bo Burns, SePro and Terry English, USDAAPHIS PPO. The initial treatment area (open water) was treated with Sonar AS, provided by Randy Westbrooks. They also sprayed 16 backpack sprayers of Diquat around the inner and outer shoreline of the canal.

The current infestation is a little over 25 acres. Additional survey work will be done to determine the exact extent of the infestation. As fall and winter approach, we are hoping for cold weather to slow the growth of the Salvinia and hopefully we can get an early start on additional treatments in 2003. Randy closes all his e-mail messages with this statement - Partnerships Now.....Weeds Won’t Wait! Something we all should consider!