Eurasian Water-Milfoil

Grows in thick mats that shade out native plants.
- Produces a monoculture unfavorable to production of sportfish.
- Stunted fish can occur as a result of the heavy cover from predators.
- Late summer die-offs cause alga blooms, reducing dissolved oxygen needed by fish.

Native of Europe.
- Brought to northeastern US in 1880's.  Found in 33 states by 1985.
- Common in Minnesota and Wisconsin waters.
- One plant was found in N. Dak's. Sheyenne River in the 1990's, but none since.

Eurasian water-milfoil is a rooted, submerged plant seen in shallow waters.
- Stems reddish-brown to whitish-pink
  - One-eighth to one-quarter inch diameter
  - Up to five feet in length.
- Leaves deeply divided, soft, and feather like.
  - About two inches long.
  - Arranged in whorls of 3-6 leaves about the stem.
  - Leaves are limp when out of the water.
- Flowers reddish and very small.
  - Held several inches above the water when the plant is blooming.
  - After pollination, flower spikes sink under water.

Most infestations started by plant fragments growing into new plants or by root runners.
- Grows best on soft mud bottoms in waters with moderate nutrient levels.
- Survives for months under the ice.

Chemical or mechanical control is expensive and often unsuccessful.
- Native and desirable plants are also killed.
- Opens the area to recolonization by water-milfoil.

Eurasian water-milfoil would flourish in many North Dakota waters.

Sheyenne River boaters should watch for this plant and clean their equipment thoroughly.

Curly-Leaf Pondweed

Grows soon after ice out and deprives later-growing plants of nutrients.
- Quickly establishes a monoculture unfavorable for fish and wildlife.
- Forms thick surface mats that inhibit boating, swimming, and wading.
- Fishing declines when mats cover much of the lake's surface.
- Mats increase escape cover for small fish in shallow waters.
- As a result small fish are not cropped by predators in summer.
- As late summer plant die-offs occur, small fish lose their protection.
- Predators begin actively feeding on them in shallow waters.
- Large gamefish become vulnerable to overharvest by anglers.

Native to Eurasia and Africa.
- Imported into the United States as an aquarium plant in the early 1800's.
- By mid-1880's was established in many eastern states and had spread westward.
- Would do well in most North Dakota waters that are not extremely salty.
- Common in Lake Audubon, Lake Sakakawea, and Missouri River.
- Isolated populations are also found in a few small lakes.

Plant stems are typically 1-3 feet in length.
- Fall/Winter: grows with smooth leaves and can over-winter as an upright plant.
- Spring/Summer: leaves oblong, reddish-green, fine-toothed edges, three inches long.

Chemical control is expensive with no assurance of effectiveness and mechanical control causes seed

pods to dislodge and float to new areas.

Purple Loose-Strife

Grows into dense monoculture stands at water's edge.
- Mats grow so thickly that waterfowl cannot penetrate them.
- High seed production and germination rate quickly result in dense stands.

Believed to have originated in Europe and Asia.
- Hitchhiked to northeast US in a ship's hold or ballast water in the 1800's.
- Moved from eastern states in early 1900's to Washington state by the 1940's.
- Most states and provinces report purple loosestrife infestations.
- The plant is spreading in North Dakota.
- It does best in areas with moist soils.
- Found along Missouri, Red, Sheyenne, Mouse rivers as well as many other areas.

Plant is 2-7 feet tall.
- Flowers bloom June-Sept.; purple with 5-6 petals arranged in a spike.
- Stems are four-sided on young plants; multi-sided on mature plants.
- Leaves are opposite each other.
- Leaves in tightly packed whorls.
- Oblong to heart shaped, measuring 1-4 inches.

Grows best in marshes, wetlands, and along rivers or streams.
- A single large taproot may have 30-50 annual upright herbaceous stems.
- Seed heads can produce as many as 2.7 million seeds.
- A single seed is about the size of a speck of ground black pepper.
- Seeds survive for some time to sprout under favorable conditions.
- Seeds spread by water, wind, carried in feathers and fur of birds and animals.
- Seeds are tracked around on our shoes, vehicles, and boats.

Can be controlled by removing vegetation from boats, vehicles, and equipment.
- Broad-spectrum herbicides can be used to remove large stands.
- It is very expensive and is not always effective.
- Most herbicides kill desirable plants along with targeted plants.
- Spot treatment with specific herbicides may eliminate small stands.
- Remove young plants by hand cutting, if the taproot has not been formed.
- Biological controls (flea beetles or weevils) reduce but do not eliminate plants.
- Must be closely monitored to prevent a new set of problems.
- Result in repeating cycle of high and low bug and plant populations.

Salt Cedar (Tamarisk)

Out-competes native plants such as willow and cottonwood.
- Drops salt-laden leaves in fall that poison soil and prevent other plants from growing.
- Site renovation may require removing contaminated topsoil, replacing it with new soil.
- Dense stands are difficult to penetrate and of little benefit to wildlife.
- Uses up to 300 gallons of water daily, 10-20 times the amount used by native plants.
- Thick taproot penetrates up to 50 feet into the ground to reach water.
- Can easily deplete underground seeps and springs.

Native to Eurasia and Africa.
- Introduced into inter-Mountain Region of western United States in early 1800's.
- Used as erosion control in areas disturbed by agriculture or overgrazed by cattle.
- Original seed source in North Dakota appears to have been from Montana.
- Found in Missouri and Yellowstone rivers and Lake Sakakawea.
- May already exist in Missouri River below Garrison Dam.
- A plant was found in Sargent County in southeastern North Dakota.
- Would do well in most North Dakota waters.

Grows as shrubs or trees 12 -15 ft tall.
- Bark of young plant smooth and reddish-brown.
- Branches slender with gray-green foliage.
- Bark of older trees brownish-purple, furrowed, and ridged.
- Leaves less than 1/8 inch long and overlap the stem in a fish-scale pattern.
- Flowers from late spring to early fall.
- Large bunches of 2-inch spikes of pink-white flowers appear on the tips of branches.
- A flower produces thousands of seeds that wash downstream and colonize an area.
- Seeds hitchhike in feathers of birds and the fur of animals.
- Seeds tracked in mud on our shoes, the feet of animals, and by vehicle tires.

Chemical spraying programs can be used for control.
- Hand cutting may be effective if the plants are young, small, and few in number.

Biological controls under consideration, but are just beginning.
- Require close monitoring to prevent a new set of problems.

Preventing the spread of ANS - Equipment cleaning guidelines:

Hitch, live-well, mud & water on floor, transom

Anchor rope, trailer frame, boat hull, rollers, bunks, axle, wheels, boat motor

Equipment cleaning and bait guidelines:

Remove plant fragments from boats, personal watercraft, trailers, fishing, hunting, or scuba gear

before leaving the boat ramp.
Drain water from the boat motor, live-well, bilge, and behind the transom before leaving the boat ramp.
Disinfect boat, live-well and bilge, trailer, and other equipment by power washing with water 110 degrees

Fahrenheit or hotter. Rinse with a solution of one part chlorine bleach to 20 parts warm water. Or air dry boat

and trailer for five days in hot, dry weather; longer if it is cool or damp.
Learn to identify legal baits and check bait buckets for carp and other species. It is illegal to bring bait fish into

North Dakota without a permit from the Game and Fish Department.
Do not release bait or bait water into a lake or move fish from one lake to another. Put excess bait in a fish grinder,

the garbage, or bury it at home. Return fish only to waters they came from.
Replace bait bucket water with well water clear of plants or plant fragments.