Wednesday morning (June 13) we are working with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Spray Team to wage all-out war on giant salvinia at Little Green Brake.  The TPW airboat will operate all around the island, spraying in as close as they can reach.  John Winn and I, working out of pirogue and pole boat, will move in with hand held sprayers to penetrate the island as deeply as we can.

We are declaring Little Green Brake a Zero Tolerance area.  We intend to spray every sprig of giant salvinia we find there. At the same time, the GCLA spray boat, with Terry Echols and Sam Canup, will be operating along north shore, working from Ames Springs Basin cut off up to Holland's Point. We also have additional spray capacities to work other hot spots, supervised by Ken Shaw and Robert Speight.  We have Billy Carter running the barricade netting.  Michael Turner will be working the south shore west of Swanson's Landing.

VOLUNTEERS, anyone!?!

We will need as many volunteers as we can get on the water in coming days and weeks to help mop up behind our aggressive spray attack. We will need people to work specific sectors -- looking for giant salvinia plants and netting them out of the water.

  PLEASE CONTACT US NOW IF YOU CAN HELP.

We need you to register here online so that we have your name, phone number and email address. We will contact you and work out an assignment suitable to your availability.  Those with boats who are experienced at Caddo Lake are especially needed. We will be improving this process as we go along -- but please register now and indicate your desire to help.

Once the barricade is complete, it will help us prevent 90% of the giant salvinia moving our way.  The barricade works. But to ensure we are protected we need to get as many hands on the water as possible to remove any and all giant salvinia that may have got past the barricade line before the netting was complete.

ANOTHER WAY YOU CAN HELP is to contribute money.

We are rapidly consuming our budget and need all the financial help we can get to purchase additional stocks of herbicides. You can contribute on-line through PayPal here on the site or by sending a check to GCLA, P.O. Box 339, Karnack, Texas 75661.

For the first time in history, everybody connected to Caddo Lake is working together to fight this destructive invasive plant. Harrison County, the City of Marshall, Cypress Valley Navigation District, GCLA, Northeast Texas Municipal Water District, Caddo Lake Institute, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, U S Fish & Wildlife Service, AEP/Swepco have all generously supported this project, enabling us to construct the barricade and obtain herbicides.

But we need more and we need it now to ensure success. I do not exaggerate when I tell you the fate of Caddo Lake depends on what we do this summer -- right now. Those of us on the front lines have seen within the last few days how giant salvinia does indeed double every 4 to 5 days.  It is happening before our eyes.

If we allow giant salvinia to become established in our swampy part of the lake we will experience an ecological, recreational and aesthetic loss beyond our ability to recover. We can beat this by executing the plan we have developed from the grassroots -- but we need volunteers and we need donations to succeed. Register as a member on this website and check the "Willing to Volunteer" box. Or just click the email link below to volunteer without registering on the site. We might not be able to get back to you for a couple of days because we are tending to a grave emergency, but we will be in touch, and your help can make a difference.  We will also be updating the website to provide day-to-day information on our progress.

If you would like to help us fight this serious threat to Caddo Lake please contact Jack Canson
( Project Coordinator ) at, canson@charter.net . Please leave your contact info.

Thanks for your support!!
Greater Caddo lake Association