Part of refuge closed for spraying

Crop dusters will spray herbicides over about 400 acres in the southwest portion of the nearly 8,000-acre South Marsh area, said Kevin DesRoberts, assistant refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ruby Lake has the highest breeding population of canvasback and redhead ducks west of the Mississippi River. But large contiguous stands of bulrush in the South March have reduced their nesting habitat, DesRoberts said.

"The herbicide being applied will harm only the bulrush and cattail. Birds, fish and other wildlife in and around the march will not be affected," he said.

archive