WARREN COUNTY, N.Y. -- The divers and volunteers behind me are fighting a battle. But it's a losing battle, because this stuff keeps coming back.

Mike Schaffer and Bob English call themselves pirates - milfoil pirates.

"Nobody likes, it has no friends, we're just trying to get rid of it as best we can," said Bob English, a resident and a volunteer.

This plant, they say, invaded the lake some 20 years ago. It grows fast and kills other plant life. If it grows too much, it'll form dense mats on top of the water and get stuck in boat propellers.

"We're struggling to fight it using these mats that you see here," said Bob Sherman another resident and volunteer.

The DEC, Department of Environmental Conservation, formally calls it an aquatic nuisance. And it's as much of a money issue as it is an environmental issue, because these folks are volunteers. And of course, it's political.

"We're trying to show the Adirondack Park Agency that we are doing a good job and that we're good stewards of the park," said Sherman.

In other lakes around the country, milfoil is fought and controlled with herbicides. And what Bob Sherman eventually wants.

“To get that permit we have to jump though a lot of hoops. The APA is putting us through a lot of hoops and as well they should. But we area bound and determined to do our damnedest," said Sherman.

"It's a hot button issue, however, it's come a long way since the days of sonar and bombing a lake. They've got chemicals that specifically go after milfoil," said English.

Now, volunteers say the lake is still perfectly clean event with this stuff in it, so it shouldn't affect any summer activities.