{"id":17937,"date":"2014-09-16T11:27:16","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T15:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=17937"},"modified":"2014-09-16T11:27:16","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T15:27:16","slug":"composting-answer-eliminating-invasive-plant-species-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/composting-answer-eliminating-invasive-plant-species-lakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Composting: the Answer to Eliminating Invasive Plant Species from Lakes (and Other Places)?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n As a native Southerner (and, more specifically, a Louisianian), I know a thing or two about invasive species<\/a>: Spanish moss, kudzu, and nutria<\/a> all figure into my memories of growing up. So far, methods to control these species and the damage they do have come up short – \u00a0that’s generally the case everywhere. Asian carp are still doing their thing in the Great Lakes, and, as I found out in the last week, milfoil – an invasive plant species – is wreaking havoc on lake ecosystems in the Northeast. According to CentralMaine.com<\/a>, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is looking into composting as method for curbing the spread of the watery weed.<\/p>\n Apparently, towns in Central Maine’s Belgrade lakes region have gone after milfoil, and pulled out tons of it. The problem: what do you do with the waste? Specifically, how do you dispose of it in a manner that insures that none of it remains viable and spreads back into the water? Composting may be the answer to that conundrum: the\u00a0Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance has been doing it successfully<\/a>, but, apparently, the amounts they’re now having to handle – tens of thousands of gallons of milfoil waste – require a permit from the DEP. So the town of Oakland is considering whether to host a text station for large-scale milfoil composting.<\/p>\n Apparently, the Conservation Alliance’s efforts have been quite successful, and the compost itself is very high quality – they may be on to something here! If this works, it would be interesting to see efforts along these lines for dealing with other invasive plant species: maybe we can do something about all that kudzu, for instance.<\/p>\n Know of other efforts to dealing with invasive plants by composting them? Know of other methods that you think might be more effective? Share your thoughts with us.<\/p>\n