# Farmington Bay WMA- phrag fight -update



## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

The management (Rich and Jason) at FB are making some great headway into opening up areas inside and outside of their dikes for us to hunt. 
This is what goes into keeping water managed on the WMA (hard, hot work all summer long).








This bovine beauty is still munching on a phrag tassle!








This is just one example of many areas that are opened back up by cattle.









These guys are getting creative in trying to save our marshes. My hat is off to them for trying to make things better for us and for the birds!
R


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Good work and great update.


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## manzquad (Feb 10, 2010)

Mmmmm phrag


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

The cows have done a great job in the past. It would be nice if the DWR had funding to spray outside the impoundment areas too. All those guys at FB do an outstanding job with what they have to work with. Now if they would just use that grader on the roads more than once a year.


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

That is great! I love what those cows do.
It's pretty cool the cows make open places for ducks in our marshes for us to hunt and eat. Now we can eat steak from our marshes too? The cow looks delicious. Just saying :twisted: ...


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## Markthehunter88 (Nov 5, 2010)

rich and jason are two great guys!!! they really work the waders in the summer (that must be HOT!!!) thanks guys!


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

those guys know their stuff and have done a great job out there


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## Jeff Bringhurst (May 20, 2009)

Great job guys!!!!!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> The cows have done a great job in the past. It would be nice if the DWR had funding to spray outside the impoundment areas too. All those guys at FB do an outstanding job with what they have to work with. Now if they would just use that grader on the roads more than once a year.


+1


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## duckhunter1096 (Sep 25, 2007)

If they could make that cow taste like Duck... I'd be SOLD!!!


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

duckhunter1096 said:


> If they could make that cow taste like Duck... I'd be SOLD!!!


WHAT :shock:


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## duckkiller31 (May 25, 2012)

So her a question for you all. Why can't we all pitch in and give those boys money? So then they could have the funding to do those things that need to be done ar farminton bay?


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

Could you be more specific in your question? Do you mean spraying, grazing, burning? Any idea is a good idea when it comes to fighting the phragmites invasion.
R


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## duckkiller31 (May 25, 2012)

What I mean by this is someone needs to orginze a charity event just for frag sparing burning. Lets not wait for the goverment to fund it lets us duck hunters fund it. Give to rich and who ever that needs the funding to bit this problem in the butt.


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

I think that's a little easier said than done. Spraying gets really expensive, really fast. I think we'd all love to do what we can, but it takes a lot of money to effectively control the stuff. Maybe we could organize a trap shoot or something and have all the proceeds go to phrag control, but in the grand scheme of things it'd take a lot of trap shoots to get enough money to do much damage.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

$5 habitat stamp and/or a state waterfowl stamp to fight phrag. The money needs to stay in waterfowl programs and NOT go in to the general fund. This is not a new thing in this state, we had to purchase these stamps years ago but the money went everywhere else.


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## duckkiller31 (May 25, 2012)

It cant be that expensive. If every duck hunter in the state of utah gave $5 dollars. That would be a start. But you can't give the goverment the money or let them manage it. A non profit origazation could manage the money then work with the dwr and get this problem under control. We all spend thousand of dollars on our equipment boats and everything else we buy to go hunting the duck's. I think we aught to look into doing this because the dwr can't do it all plus they have no monet to do it.


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

The sad truth is that the state has reduced the monies they promised us for phrag control, and the DWR has not been able to get a burn permit for several years, so they didn't spray very much this year in order to not waste our money (that's the good news). Without a burn permit, they can't clear out the sprayed areas, they can't clear out the thatch, and with super deep thatch, cattle have a hard time getting through it to eat. Fire is good, and cattle are a great way to follow up on a burn. The FFLS now has their new phrag machine (the Truxaur), but it is just a machine, and it is very limited in its capabilities on large-scale phrag stands. The invasion contiues...
R


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

Any word if cows are being used this year on other management areas?


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## colbyatepaste (Oct 9, 2010)

I'd rather they make the duck taste like cow


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

Bret,
They are using some cattle at Ogden Bay, but not intensivley grazing it, so the results will not be as dramatic. Maybe next year.
R


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

Ogden bay has cattle on it.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

No cattle at Harold Crane? The grazed area there looked really good last year.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

why dont they let cattle graze the absolute hell out of these wetlands? let these 4 legged frag destroyers do the work for us to the point that frag doesnt stand a chance? it sure isnt because we have a lack of cattle around.


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## nickpan (May 6, 2008)

Here is another twist on the subject.

Aa buddy of mine has a friend who is grazing his pigs on some phrag somewhere in the Corinne area. He tells me that the results are very good, and one thing that they do that the cows don't is root the phrag up to 2' down in some areas.

I think we're onto somethng here!


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

I raised some pigs last year and they would often be up to their ears in the dirt rooting for some food. Maybe they are the ultimate natural phrag destroyer!


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

There are a lot of costs involved with transporting and maintaining cattle in the wetlands to dine on phrag. It takes a well-established rancher with a large herd to do it right. Most of the cow farmers in davis and weber counties are too small to participate in an effective phrag grazing program. Maybe it would work out if the grazing area could allow several cattle growers to share in one leased area. For now, it is very tough to get anyone qualified to graze intensivley around here. 
It would be cool to see a large herd of pigs out in the marsh doing their thing though! Anyone know someone with a thousand pigs to transport to Ogden Bay?
R


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