GLIN==> Funds to fight invasives approved

Submitted by Kristin Schrader <kschrader at ducks.org>

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Funds to fight invasives approved
http://www.ducks.org/states/24/news/pub/article2007.html

Ann Arbor, Mich. -October 14, 2009- The conservation group Ducks Unlimited 
recently received funding to assist in the fight against invasive plant 
species which threaten the health of the Great Lakes. The Senate late last 
week approved $155,000 based on a request submitted by Senator Debbie 
Stabenow (Mich) earlier this year.

"I am so proud to have helped secure this funding which will help protect 
our most precious resource," Stabenow said. "Fighting Phragmites and other 
invasive species will help restore our lakes, provide a boost to our 
economy, and preserve our Michigan way of life."

Funding will address the development of long-term controls and management 
assistance as well as outreach and education efforts to landowners, 
communities and other agencies regarding the destruction of the invasive 
plant Phragmites australis. This plant has negatively impacted wetlands 
throughout the United States, and has been particularly aggressive on the 
Great Lakes.

"Invasive species, and Phragmites in particular, are an ongoing struggle for 
conservationists in the Great Lakes" said Gildo Tori, Director of Public 
Policy for the Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Office of Ducks Unlimited. 
"This award could not come at a more critical time. We need to explore every 
solution to this destructive plant which destroys habitat on our 
shorelines."

Phragmites grows and spreads aggressively in shallow wetlands and waterways 
throughout the Great Lakes, eliminating natural vegetation and degrading 
fish and wildlife habitat.  Because of its tall dense growth, it obscures 
views and reduces the ecological functions and values of wetlands.

This grant will allow Ducks Unlimited to pursue control methods for 
phragmites, helping to meet the objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration 
Strategy and the MI Great Lakes Plan.  Special consideration will be given 
to controlling and managing phragmites in coastal wetlands.

The appropriation will also be used for community outreach to engage the 
public in Phragmites control, including the production and distribution of a 
landowners guide to dealing with Phragmites.

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest 
and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization; Ducks 
Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres across North America. The 
United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - among 
nature's most productive ecosystems - and continues to lose more than 80,000 
wetland acres each year.

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Contact: Kristin Schrader
734.623.2000
kschrader at ducks.org