Terry Sullivan, regional biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he doesn't know how many of those permits involve mechanical harvesters like Meutzel's.Marqua obtained a permit from Sullivan, although he was not happy that Sullivan forced him to retain a 50-by-75-foot swath of matted weeds on his shoreline for fish habitat.Sullivan said small creatures live in the weeds and provide a food source for fish and wading birds.Without the weeds, Sullivan said, many animals would abandon the lake system.For that reason, he said DEP wants to protect some of the weeds.Sullivan defends herbicide spraying, saying it doesn't harm the environment.He says an acre of water hyacinths can produce 650,000 plants in a year that shed 250 tons of wet leaves in the water.He said spraying chemicals in the water kills the plants before they can produce more leaves.Meutzel said Sullivan is not a man whose mind can be changed by arguing, and he doesn't plan to try.He said his job is to harvest weeds for private landowners, not to fight the state.He points to Lake Pocono, about two miles east of Marqua's home, as one of his crown jewels.

Terry Sullivan, regional biologist at the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management, has announced that the Department of Environmental Protection will conduct aquatic weed control operations from Nov. 29 to Dec. 17 in Lake Rousseau using Environmental Protection Agency-approved herbicides.Water hyacinth, water lettuce and boat trails will be treated using the herbicides Reward and Aquastar.

Jan. 31, 2013 Lake Rousseau RV Park hosted a meeting presented by the FFWCC directed by Terry Sullivan, Regional Biologist - Invasive Plant Management and Perry Ross from the University of Georgia.

After a lengthy investigation working with biologist Terry Sullivan of the FWC Invasive Plant Management Section, Officer Kat Kelley was able to obtain a felony arrest warrant for a suspect removing aquatic plants from the Rainbow River.