Congratulations to all the new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant recipients! Here at the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative, we are excited to see the wonderful variety of projects that will help protect and restore habitats within the Great Lakes Basin.
While all of the projects sound exciting, we were eager to learn more about some that include significant Phragmites work. We caught up with Lyn Ickes of Lorain County, OH and Jennifer Muladore and Tim Engelhardt of Huron Pines to get a quick summary of their projects’ main goals.
Black River / Lorain County, OH
- Significantly reduce the amount of Phragmites and purple loosestrife in the upper 6.2 river miles of the Black River in Lorain, Ohio.
- Employ the long-term unemployed in the Black River Civilian Conservation Crew to complete the work, with the addition of a tractor to assist with various tasks.
- Build on our first year of successes, including:
- Completing work on over 40 acres of Phragmites and narrowleaf cattail, using only backpack sprayers.
- Removing over 650 30-gallon garbage bags of purple loosestrife.
Huron Pines
- Expand our successful early detection-rapid response program to work with landowners throughout Northeast MI, helping locate and manage invasive plant species in areas that haven’t been reached in the past.
- Using our Huron Pines AmeriCorps members and highly skilled restoration crew, work closely with each landowner to meet their goals for invasive species removal as part of overall better land stewardship practices.
- Promote invasive species awareness and the Northeast Michigan Cooperative Weed Management Area partnership to local communities, and develop leaders who will organize invasive species projects locally through volunteer events, workshops, and engaging local businesses.
Congratulations, and good luck in all your restoration and protection efforts!