Wisconsin is the birthplace of modern aquatic plant harvesters. The industry has grown in response to what most Americans consider a problem: Too many plants interfering with the recreational use of our lakes and waterways. The first machine was built in response to fussy Chicago housewives! Around the turn of the century, ice was harvested
It’s a familiar sight to residents living on the shores of Kitsap Lake in Washington: each summer, around the beginning of June, a bright green algae begins to creep across the water. These blooms can be harmful to people and pets and have forced closures of Kitsap Lake and its beaches every year for the
Each year, the St. Albans Area Watershed Association uses mechanical harvesters to cut and remove tons of unwanted plant material out of St. Albans Bay. The harvesters scooped up almost 90,000 bushels of plants in 2020 alone. The aquatic weed harvesters are used for establishing things like navigation lanes and clearing out areas of varied
The Massachusetts’s Department of Conservation and Recreation is aiming to reduce invasive plant species in Lake Whitehall in a plan that calls for herbicides and mechanical harvesting. The reservoir has extensive growth of “exotic nuisance aquatic vegetation,” including fanwort and variable-leaf milfoil, according to a report by ESS Group, a firmed hired by the state.
Floating weed harvesters have opened passages through Dane County Wisconsin’s dense tangles of underwater plants for about 50 years. The barges wield rotating cutting bars like those on farm combines to cut a submerged crop that is fertilized too well by runoff of nutrients like dairy manure. Each spring, the county launches a flotilla of
As a child, growing up on the lake was an amazing experience. Summer days were filled with fishing, swimming, and catching frogs. Winters were filled with ice skating, more fishing, and hockey. There was always something to do on or near the water! I fondly remember sitting on the pier with my brother; toes just