Photograph by: Annie Larsen Date: August 2005 Location: Fowler Beach Road at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge Details: R4 Helicopter with Milton Fire Department tanker and Service support vehicles

Photograph by: Annie Larsen Date: August 2005 Location: Slaughter Beach Road Details: Slaughter Beach Fire Department's water tanker supporting helicopter spraying activities

In 2005, the refuge made use of Region 4’s helicopter from the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to perform the majority of aerial application of herbicide for control of Phragmites, as part of Prime Hook’s ongoing effort to control this species and reduce the threat of fire to homes adjacent to the refuge. Our habitat management goal for this year was to spray 2,000 acres.

Pilot Glenn Cullingford arrived on-site on August 22 to begin operations. Water for mixing of the herbicide was provided by Milton Fire Department’s 4,200-gallon tanker truck and later by a pumper truck from the Memorial Fire Department of Slaughter Beach. When the work was completed on August 27, a total of 1,634 acres had been treated. Due to tight scheduling and weather constraints, we also contracted with Allen Chorman Inc. to spray 300 acres with his fixed-wing aircraft to complete the treatment of unsprayed areas. He completed this work on September 11. Refuge personnel and volunteers ground sprayed approximately 200 additional acres using hand-held spray equipment. Thus, a grand total of 2,134 acres of Phragmites were herbicide treated on Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge during FY 2005.