PORTOLA - A chance to hear details about the Lake Davis Pike Eradication Project will be presented at an open house workshop Aug. 1, 2007. The workshop, last in a series this summer that focused on topics such as economic impacts and forest closures, is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Portola Station Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, 171 S. Gulling St., in Portola.

"This will be a great opportunity for the public to discuss with our staff how the project will be implemented, what type of monitoring will occur, and what will be happening in the local community regarding the project," said Ed Pert, the Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) project manager. "In addition, information about the threat pike pose to Lake Davis and other waters of the state will be available."

The open house will feature a number of information stations staffed with knowledgeable people. Those attending will have a chance to talk to past workshop speakers, learn more about the project, see the equipment that will be used, ask experts about the chemicals and chemical constituents, and get a map showing local road closures. There will also be an opportunity to find out how water quality will be protected, look at how well testing is being done, sign up for the economic impact business survey, and learn about local wildlife. A variety of DFG, U.S Forest Service (USFS), and outside agency staff will be present to discuss the project and answer questions related to the project. Several specialists who presented at previous workshops, including accountant Jim McCurley and toxicologists Drs. Jeff Fisher and Ron Tjeerdema, will also be on hand.

Last January, DFG Director Ryan Broddrick approved a project to again eradicate the pike from the Plumas County reservoir, which is on USFS land. The details of the approved project can be found in DFG's CEQA Findings of Fact and Overriding Considerations at www.dfg.ca.gov/lakedavis. Eradication is scheduled to begin some time after Labor Day weekend using CFT Legumine, a new liquid formulation of rotenone.

Lake Davis was chemically treated for the non-native, predatory northern pike in 1997. However, the pike were rediscovered there in 1999. The pike population has adversely affected the trout fishery and ecology of Lake Davis. Should pike escape or be moved from Lake Davis, they have the potential to do irreversible damage to the aquatic ecosystem and fisheries in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary and its watershed, as well as potentially harm other areas of California.