Phragmites, a giant, invasive perennial plant that originated in Eurasia, has already made a home for itself in the water of the Saginaw Bay, originating in Lake St. Clair.  The plant spreads quickly, chocking out all native vegetation and creating a monoculture not conducive to wildlife habitat and forage. 

Huron Pines, a Michigan's AmeriCorps program designed to enable conservation organizations to meet their resource protection goals, has begun implementing a control plan in Iosco County to alleviate the speed of the phragmite spread.  Helping to coordinate these efforts is Tim Engelhardt, a second-year Michigan's AmeriCorps member serving in Huron Pines' Grayling office.

"Iosco County is the southern most county in our service area and a great place to start ‘The Campaign to End Phragmites'," says Engelhardt.  "We need to stop it and there are two steps to actually do so."

The first step is mapping all phragmite growth locations in the area - some areas are far worse than others - and marking them for treatment.  The second step is conducting actual treatment with herbicide and chemicals.  Currently, Engelhardt and another Huron Pines AmeriCorps member have completed a preliminary shoreline evaluation for Iosco County and are recruiting volunteers to assist with the future treatment process.

"For Iosco County, it will take at least a couple of field seasons for treatment to make an impact," Engelhardt explains.  "We'll need to get to the point where we are monitoring our treatment areas and making sure things are under control."

To assist Huron Pines and Engelhardt with the financial aspect of this project the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided $15,000 to cover some of the costs.  But there are other steps, beyond the financial, which will help this campaign's success in the future.

"This project will require a long-term commitment.  But, public education will also be really important for it to succeed," says Engelhardt.

He says Huron Pines and AmeriCorps will work to educate people about phragmites and their environmental impact and what they can do to prevent its spread.  Those efforts could include not disturbing the soil on shorelines - which can occur during beach combing - or monitoring construction on beach front properties.  Disturbing shorelines creates the perfect introduction scenario for phragmites.

To find out more about Huron Pines and its AmeriCorps program, please visit www.huronpines.org .