August 26, 2025 – Theresa Gruninger, Great Lakes Commission
Partnerships between multiple agencies and organizations can be key to the success of invasive Phragmites management projects. Partnering with organizations can be beneficial in several ways and can help lighten the financial and labor burden of Phragmites management. Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative staff reached out to regional organizations to learn more about how they utilize partnerships and collaborate with others to help them reach their management goals. Their responses highlight the multitude of ways organizations can work together to tackle such a large problem. Prepare to be inspired.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Response from: Matt Puz, Wetland Invasive Plant Specialist
How do partnerships and collaboration with outside organizations help aid your Phragmites management?
Much of the Phragmites work we do is only possible because of partnerships with outside organizations because there is simply too much ground to cover, and my [Matt Puz, WI DNR Wetland Invasive Plant Specialist] understanding of the different regions pales in comparison to the local partners. Some partners identify and report new stands of Phragmites and forward them onto me, some get in touch with the landowners – educate them about the plant, its management, ask for access to conduct treatments, and coordinate with contractors that DNR has hired to treat those sites. Others, when Phragmites is newly observed, will use our FieldMaps app to map the population or, if it’s a site we’ve treated in the past, they’ll return to monitor and remap new growth. Though a lot of this work is part of their responsibilities, the coordination and communication with DNR is an extra lift, but one that has helped us swiftly identify, manage, and remain vigilant with many Phragmites populations around the state.
What advice would you give to others who are looking to build partnerships and collaborate to enhance their Phragmites program? What is an easy step to get started?
This is helpful advice for building any partnerships, but not just Phragmites-related: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Cold-call or cold-email groups you’ve identified, introduce yourself, listen, offer something of value (time, resources, expertise), and then follow-through. Do what you say you will. And then do it again. Partnerships are relationships – they take time, effort, trust, and communication. Have this mindset in mind. And when you have great partners who do great work – let them know, reward their efforts.
WI DNR’s Participating partners:
Wisconsin’s Lake Monitoring and Protection Network, specifically:
- Adams County Land and Water Resources Department
- Marquette County Land and Water Resources Department
- Polk County Land and Water Resources Department
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
- Private Citizens (lake associations, etc.)
University of Minnesota – Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
Response from: Chelsey Blanke, Ecological Researcher
How do partnerships and collaboration with outside organizations help aid your Phragmites management?
Minnesota has a statewide program for control of invasive Phragmites. Through funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, we collaborate with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and many others to control all ~2500 verified invasive Phragmites populations in the state (more info here).Our program would not function without partnerships and collaboration. Our partners assist in reporting suspected invasive Phragmites populations and some provide funding or conduct control within their jurisdictions.
We invite interested and engaged volunteers to report suspect populations of invasive Phragmites via EDDMapS or email. Some lake association members also volunteer their time to attend coordination meetings and distribute information. We have had one-off events where volunteers have assisted with non-chemical management (i.e., cutting and burning dead standing stems to help facilitate herbicide contact the following growing season). Landowners allow access to their properties.
What advice would you give to others who are looking to build partnerships and collaborate to enhance their Phragmites program? What is an easy step to get started?
Designate and utilize a publicly available data management system that partners can contribute to and make use of.
Participating partners:
We have hundreds of partners (too many to list here)! A few of them are featured on this StoryMap.
Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLFWIC)
Response from: Steven Garske, Invasive Species Coordinator & Travis Bartnick, Wildlife Biologist
How do partnerships and collaboration with outside organizations help aid your Phragmites management?
Staff from a couple of the local tribal natural resources departments (who are also partners with the Northwoods Cooperative Weed Management Area (NCWMA)) have reached out to request GLIFWC’s assistance with the management of non-native Phragmites on tribal/reservation lands. GLIFWC staff have been working with tribal natural resources staff to conduct follow-up monitoring and, if necessary, control work at non-native Phragmites sites. They have provided transportation via boat to reach sites near a large coastal wetland along the south shore of Lake Superior. They have met with our staff at various sites and assisted with outreach to gain landowner permission to access some of the sites within tribal communities. Natural resources staff from the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and other partners were instrumental in securing funding for two significant projects related to non-native Phragmites. One [project] funded a genetic study which helped link pioneering populations of non-native Phragmites to source populations at three wastewater treatment plants. They also secured EPA funding to implement a project that removed non-native Phragmites from those same three wastewater treatment plants around the Chequamegon Bay region [inlet in Wisconsin] on the east side of the Bayfield Peninsula. These three wastewater treatment facilities were a major source of the area’s non-native Phragmites populations, until the removal project was implemented in 2018 and 2019. Since then, many of the known populations of Phragmites from those areas have been removed and annual follow-up monitoring has indicated no recent growth at almost all previously known sites.
The Wisconsin DNR was recently awarded Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding to support their non-native Phragmites program and have taken the lead on controlling several of the more recently documented Phragmites sites in northern Wisconsin, primarily within the Lake Superior Basin. They have also been helpful in contacting landowners (including corporate landowners) and working with them to gain access to Phragmites sites on private land. Additionally, they have worked with local contractors to contract out much of the herbicide treatment of various sites. However, the WDNR’s GLRI funding will need to be renewed in a couple of years, and the future of such funding is uncertain at this time. If the WDNR cannot continue to fund their non-native Phragmites program, GLIFWC will likely resume responsibility for many of the sites in northwestern Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) and their contractors have also been helpful in controlling a number of roadside sites that GLIFWC staff and others have found over the years. As state organizations the WDNR and WI DOT have the capacity to treat many more sites over a much larger area than GLIFWC’s relatively small invasives program can.
The Vilas County Land & Water Conservation Department (L&WCD) has been helping to control a non-native Phragmites population next to the beach of a state campground, on the shore of a medium-sized seepage lake in far northern Wisconsin. The population was initially reported in 2021. Since then, we have worked closely with them to manually control this population. The L&WCD is also working to eradicate several other non-native Phragmites sites in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin DNR’s GLRI grant includes funding for genetic testing of Phragmites samples. GLIFWC has been able to use this funding to get several samples tested that were suspected of being hybrid plants. The samples are being tested by the Tippery lab at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
What advice would you give to others who are looking to build partnerships and collaborate to enhance their Phragmites program? What is an easy step to get started?
Reach out to your local Cooperative Invasive Weed Management Area (CISMA), contact local county land and water conservation departments, the state natural resources department, the state department of transportation, local colleges/universities, and any non-government organizations involved with conservation work. Become trained in non-native Phragmites identification and consider getting certified to apply herbicides or try to work with partners who have their pesticide certification. Building and maintaining a network of partners/collaborators across multiple levels of government and non-government entities is very important for this type of work.
Participating partners:
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- Vilas County Land & Water Conservation Department
- Northwoods Cooperative Weed Management Area (NCWMA). This organization includes partners from tribal nations, local, state, federal agencies, etc. GLIFWC was a founding member.
- Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives Partnership (WHIP)
- Community Action Duluth (CAD)
- St. Louis River Estuary Phragmites Technical Team. This is also a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency, non-government organization. It is similar to a CISMA but focused solely on non-native Phragmites in the Duluth/Superior area
Georgian Bay Forever
Response from: Nicole Carpenter, Science Projects Manager: Phragmites Research
How do partnerships and collaboration with outside organizations help aid your Phragmites management?
Sharing of staff time/volunteer recruitment is a huge benefit to partnership and collaborations with other organizations. In addition, sharing funding opportunities that you may have not been previously aware of. Also sharing success stories and knowledge on various Phragmites management practices (i.e., various control techniques) has been very beneficial. Outreach for volunteer recruitment for community cuts is very beneficial as well.
Volunteers: We do have a difficult time recruiting volunteers due to the strenuous nature of the work. We usually find that volunteers are more encouraged to come out and aid in Phragmites removal if the site is located in a commonly shared and loved place. For example, beaches and parks will get more volunteers than a remote wetland! This also has to do with accessibility.
What advice would you give to others who are looking to build partnerships and collaborate to enhance their Phragmites program? What is an easy step to get started?
Building relationships is key to successful and sustainable management. Phragmites knows no boundaries and is a long-term effort, so you need people/organizations that are committed for 5-10 years. An easy step to get started is to look at collaborating with other organizations that are close by and have similar interest, and seek support from local municipalities to get involved, possibly financially! At Georgian Bay Forever, our Phragmites program spans a large area, partly due to the fact we have worked to help train community leaders across the bay. By having individuals take lead on the Phragmites management in their area, we have been able to cover a long distance along the eastern Georgian Bay coast, ensuring all wetlands and shorelines are managed for invasive Phragmites. These individuals are often cottage volunteers or association members.
Participating partners:
- Georgian Bay Biosphere
- Georgian Bay Land Trust
- Severn Sound Environmental Association
- Georgian Bay Township
- Severn Township
- Carling Township
- Township of the Archipelago
- West Carling Association
- Sans Souci and Copperhead Association
- South Channel Association
- Magnetawan First Nation
- Shawanaga First Nation
- Wasauksing First Nation
- McGregor Bay Association
- Bay of Islands Association
- Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Association
- Nipissing First Nation
- Moose Deer Point First Nation
Lake Bernard Phragmites Working Group
Response from: Marilee Koenderink
How do partnerships and collaboration with outside organizations help aid your Phragmites management?
We [Lake Bernard Phragmites Working Group] are a collaborative of 5 agencies, The Lake Bernard Property Owners Association(LBPOA), The Near North Enviro- Education Centre (NNEEC), The village of Sundridge [Ontario, Canada], and the [Ontario] townships of Joly and Strong. Our committee membership includes stakeholders from each group and other conservation minded individuals. NNEEC provides insurance for our volunteers and a website. The municipalities provide pick up for cut Phragmites to the landfill for burial or burning. All 5 [agencies] have provided letters of support, donations and have been a lead for an application for funding. All provide assistance with social media. We are a small group with a large area to cover.
Local Businesses donate equipment and supplies annually, we utilize local arborists on sites requiring saws, and have a local small motor mechanic maintain our saws after use.
We link with the local lake associations in Almaguin [Ontario] annually and provide presentations and displays throughout the year throughout the Almaguin area. Because we cannot identify, map and manage invasive Phragmites on all of the 173 inland lakes of various sizes in Almaguin, we rely on the outreach through the displays, presentations and requests for assistance to provide demonstrations on how to manage invasive Phragmites. We recruit volunteers through the outreach we provide to assist with our site management.
Volunteers: We are a group of volunteers, run by volunteers. A neighbor helping neighbor format is encouraged. If your site has Phragmites – ask your neighbor, assist with an event, and bring a friend. Provide refreshments if possible. For older “Phrag fighters” – we can waive any participation but encourage active cheering, picture taking, and provision of treats! An email list is maintained to recruit for removal events and to circulate our annual report and other seasonal reminders.
What advice would you give to others who are looking to build partnerships and collaborate to enhance their Phragmites program? What is an easy step to get started?
Start with a small group of interested people/neighbors, relevant agencies and friends, include municipal representatives and review the Best Management Practices. Map your area. Make a realistic plan. Consult with another phrag group for support. Ensure you have an understanding of the permits needed. Start with a small site or satellite sites and experience success. Publish your results each season to the “Phrag fighters” who helped and thank them annually. Small lunches with funny awards may be appreciated: “Longest Stolen Award”, Golden Boot award for most sure footed biggest splash when falling over, “eau du swamp” award for most muddy at end of cut etc etc…. Have appreciation for the volunteers and show it.
Add the local media, schools, conservation associations that can provide funding, consider using summer students. Link with provincial associations fighting invasives each season to keep informed and find groups and current science to help your area be Phrag free
Participating partners:
- The Lake Bernard Property Owners Association(LBPOA),
- The Near North Enviro- Education Centre (NNEEC),
- The village of Sundridge
- Joly Township
- Strong Township