A work session hosted by the newly formed EUP Cooperative Weed Management Area Council is scheduled for Friday, August 6. This will include pulling of spotted knapweed along M-134 in the dune area toward DeTour. Volunteers are welcome.

“The dune area is a rare habitat that has not been taken over by the knapweed,” said council coordinator Wendy Wagoner. “The knapweed is a pretty purple flower, but it sends chemicals underground that kill every other plant species.”

Efforts to control the spread of this invasive species in the dunes will protect two threatened plants: the Lake Huron tansy and pitchers thistle.

Mrs. Wagoner said she doesn't think the growth along the roads will ever be fully controlled, because it is spread from one location to another by lawnmowers when seeds get in the equipment and aren't cleaned out.

“This is a species that can remain viable in the ground for 10 years,” she said of the seeds.

The plant will be easier to pull out in the dunes, where volunteers will discard the uprooted knapweed by putting it in garbage bags.

This new program is aimed at controlling invasive plant species in Mackinac, Chippewa, and Luce counties.

“Invasive plants will dominate, they'll take over the native ecosystem, creating problems for plants, animals, fish, and birds,” Mrs. Wagoner said. “We're never going to get rid of all invasive species. Our best hope is to control them and to keep new invaders away.”

The conservation district will assist this cause through education, community projects, and services.

The council is always looking for volunteers and will be scheduling more work sessions in the near future. Volunteers may also help by reporting when and where they see invasive species.

Educational kits are available for interested groups on the top 10 invasive plant species in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Using this knowledge, volunteers may assist in the council's efforts to map invasive species in all three counties. Anyone interested in becoming a partner in this venture or wanting specific dates and times of upcoming projects, should contact the coordinator of the project at Creekside@cedarville.net or (906) 440-7675.

The program is funded by a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant with the U.S. Forest Service, and is the result of a partnership among the Chippewa East Mackinac Conservation District and the Hiawatha National Forest of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and weed management programs. Some of the other partners of the council are the Nature Conservancy, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Tahquamenon State Park, Brimley State Park, Straits State Park, Muskallonge State Park, Bay Mills Indian Community, Les Cheneaux Watershed Council, Northern Wild Plant and Seed Coop, Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council, The Forestland Group, Michigan Karst Conservancy, Hiawatha Shore-to-Shore, and the North Country Trail Association.