Help us nix the next invasives!

Prevention is the best medicine. This is the basis for the Early Detection/Rapid Response (EDRR) program set in motion last year in West Michigan. The Land Conservancy of West Michigan and its West Michigan Cluster Partners of the Stewardship Network are working to stop the next round of invasive plants before they cause ecological and economic damage.

After careful evaluation, the cluster partners chose lyme grass, oriental bittersweet, Japanese knotweed and swallow-worts (pictured on left and right) as species we want mapped and hope to eradicate. These plants are believed to be in low enough numbers that they can be eradicated and/or controlled. Already Kent County Parks, Ada Township Parks and Ottawa County Parks are working to remove these plants from their properties.

In 2010 the Michigan Dune Alliance was awarded a grant through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation to focus on EDRR work along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Through this grant, LCWM purchased a truck and hired a stewardship crew to survey and eradicate lyme grass, oriental bittersweet, Japanese knotweed and kudzu along the lakeshore on both private and public lands. The crew has also been working to survey common reed (Phragmites australis) in these areas.

Private land owner participation is critical to the success of this program. If you own land on the lakeshore or would like to help educate others, learn more about these invaders at www.MISIN.msu.edu and keep watch for a training session near you. If you suspect you have one of the targeted species on your land, please contact Jacqueline, our Stewardship Coordinator, at jacqueline@naturenearby.org or 616-451-9476 to receive help.