The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced $3.6 million in grants to fight invasive species around the state.
The DNR’s Joanne Foreman tells us this will mean plenty of activity in southwest Michigan. For example, the Van Buren Conservation District’s South by Southwest CISMA is getting $190,000 to look for hydrilla, an invasive plant found in two Berrien Springs ponds last year.
“We will be supporting a CISMA project where they’ll be basically visiting more water bodies in that vicinity to try to see if that plant has made it into any other location,” Foreman said.
Foreman says the CISMA will also look for kudzu, another invasive plant that has been found in southwest Michigan.
“If you’ve ever been down south, you’ll see like whole areas of forest along the road sides just draped in this vine. That’s kudzu. It’s highly invasive, and a couple years ago, we were able to identify some sites actually in Michigan. It’s very rare in Michigan, but because it is here, we want to deal with those.”
The Southwest by Southwest CISMA will also get support for continued public education. Foreman says just about every county in Michigan is represented by a CISMA, and at least $70,000 for each was included in the grants announced Friday.
Another priority is preventing the spread of hemlock wooly adelgid along the Lake Michigan shore. It has been found along northern Lake Michigan, but the DNR is keeping an eye on it in case it spreads.
