The Platte river is big, some 300+ miles long. It has become choked with vegetation for many reasons over the years. This has a big effect on the ability of the river to carry water in its slow meandering braided prairie river natural state. One method to help clear the vegetation is to spray it with a herbicide. Much can be done by truck, but some areas must be sprayed by air. A helicopter was hired to cover the areas that just are too difficult to reach by other means. Thats when Rob Schultz who is the Hall County Weed Control Superintendent stopped by the Center and asked if the Helicopter could use our parking area to stage from.
The helicopter lands on top of the storage truck and it takes about 40 seconds to top off the tank and off if flies to continue spraying.
I was able to watch the pilot apply the area right behind the Center. He really moved around and when the spray came out of the boom, it was pushed straight down minimizing drift. Today, I walked down and the vegetation is showing signs of dying. We'll keep you posted about how this affects our stretch of the river.
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