Invasive Species Wanted Dead Not Alive
OutdoorHub 03.02.12
The Silent Invaders are here! They are living, multiplying and wreaking havoc all around us. It sounds like a Hollywood movie script or even a nightly 6:00 evening news spoof. But unfortunately it is real. America’s lakes, streams, forests and prairies are under deadly attack!
Celebrating National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Wildlife Forever announces the “TOP 10” Invasive Species Threats to Hunting & Fishing. The goal is to sound the alert to anglers, hunters and all outdoor recreational users. Winning the war against invasive species has become critical and prevention is the most effective method to stop the spread. To conserve and defend our treasured fish & wildlife resources, it is vital all recreational users understand how invasive species will ultimately change America’s outdoor heritage.
America is indeed under attack by invaders like zebra and quagga mussels, Asian carp, Canada thistle, feral hogs and the list goes on and on. These serious threats are damaging hunting and fishing by destroying habitat, devastating the food chain, impeding recreation and costing billions of dollars annually to fight back.
“I realize if we continue to do nothing, stand by and only watch, the alternative is too grim to contemplate,” said Doug Grann, President of Wildlife Forever. “I’d hate to think I left my boys and grandson with the knowledge I gave away their wildlife heritage simply because I sat by and watched it happen, doing nothing to prevent it.”
To learn more and to download your free “Top 10 Threats to Hunting & Fishing” poster, visit http://www.wildlifeforever.org/invasive-species.
Wildlife Forever’s mission is to conserve America’s wildlife heritage through conservation education, preservation of habitat and management of fish and wildlife. As the nonprofit conservation arm of the North American Hunting Club and North American Fishing Club,
Wildlife Forever represents the conservation interests of 1.3 million members.
- ZEBRA & QUAGGA MUSSELS:WANTED for devastating the food chain, reducing fish populations; destroying spawning habitat; encrusting boats and docks, and wreaking havoc on equipment and on fishing.
- ASIAN CARP:WANTED for taking over rivers and streams, replacing sport fish populations; impeding navigation and causing injury, even possible death, to boaters on the waters.
- CANADA THISTLE:WANTED for choking out native prairie grasses and plants; providing no food value; driving deer, wild turkeys and other wildlife out of traditional habitat.
- HYDRILLA:WANTED for limiting access for boating, fishing and waterfowl hunting; dense beds destroying sport fish spawning grounds; out competing native plants and, once mature, degrading fishing.
- BUCKTHORN
- WANTED for killing hardwood forests; eliminating native mast producing trees important to deer and turkey; choking woodland travel corridors and decreasing overall productive habitat.
- ROCK SNOT – DIDYMO:WANTED for smothering food sources for trout and salmon; covering spawning habitat and insect life with ooze; wreaking havoc on fishing and access to fishable waters.
- EMERALD ASH BORER:WANTED for destroying 100 million ash trees, creating loss of habitat and fire zones imperiling wildlife, humans and property. At stake, 7.5 billion trees.
- WHIRLING DISEASE:WANTED for killing trout and salmon. When death occurs, millions of parasitic spores release back into the water, which are virtually indestructible surviving for up to 30 years to kill again.
- FERAL HOGS:WANTED for wanton destruction of habitat; aggressively competing for acorns and mast with deer, wild turkey and quail; eating eggs of ground nesting birds; killing fawns and uprooting riparian areas.
- PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE:WANTED for eliminating productive fish and wildlife habitat to the tune of 500,000 acres of wetlands annually; offering no food value; reducing waterfowl nesting and fish nursery areas.
