HINESBURG, Vt. (AP) – Vermont’s annual battle against a weed that can choke other life out of lakes and ponds is in full swing, with several approaches being taken to combat Eurasian milfoil around the state.

“It certainly poses a problem in this state,” said aquatic biologist Ann Bove of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bove said 57 lakes and ponds and 15 streams and rivers have been infested with Eurasian milfoil since 1962, and the fight to control the plant heats up as summer residents return to their lakeside cottages and boating season hits full swing.

Up and down the state, lakeside property owners are using a number of strategies to combat the long, feathery plant that grows up from the bottoms of lakes and ponds to form a dense, slimy mat on the water’s surface.

There are 27 active management programs for Eurasian milfoil going on in the state, Bove said, most of them paid for with state money or run by volunteers.

Milfoil can grow up to an inch per day if left unchecked.

Eventually, native plants are pushed out and fish die without food, leaving dirty water with weeds so tall that swimming or boating is impossible.

“It’s pretty scary,” said Joanna Wright, who has a camp on Lake Iroquois in Hinesburg. “It has an impact on everything from fishing, to water-skiing, swimming and sailing. It’s pretty frustrating.”

AP-ES-07-02-04 1131EDT