OMAHA, Neb. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District will conduct vegetation management activities on sandbars in the Missouri River between Yankton and Vermillion, South Dakota as well as the upper portion of Lewis and Clark Lake near Springfield, South Dakota and Niobrara, Nebraska during September 2019.
The Corps is conducting the work in an effort to keep the sandbars free of vegetation and usable by the endangered interior least tern and threatened piping plover to nest, as well as to control the invasive common reed that has become prevalent in the lake area.
A team of federal and state representatives have identified approximately 980 acres along the sandbar that will require treatment. Certified applicators using helicopters will begin spraying after Labor Day only on vegetated portions of the sandbars. Spraying will involve glyphosate and imazapyr herbicides, both approved for aquatic use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Spraying will take place only when environmental conditions allow, such as little to no wind or rainfall in the immediate forecast. While efforts will be made to conduct spraying during the week, when public use is lower, spraying may occur on weekends since good spraying days can be limited due to wind or rain.
The Corps began current vegetation control and removal activities on selected sandbars in 2012 and will continue each spring and/or fall, as needed, into the future.
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Release no. 19-100