Sustainably Speaking: Preventing the spread of invasive species this summer
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – As temperatures begin to warm up and activities take to the outdoors, it’s always important to remember the helpful reminders in preventing the spread of invasive species.
In 2022, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers recognized June as Invasive Species Awareness Month, highlighting it as a great time to learn about these invasive species and prevent them from spreading across Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers, forests, and bays. Wisconsin DNR officials, including habitat biologist Jake Koebernik, list a wide variety of invasive species that they are tracking.
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“There’s a lot of them,” says Koebernik. “We really are on the lookout for invasive phragmites, non-native cattail, narrow leaf cattail, European frogbit has recently come onto the bay, flowering rush, yellow flag iris are some of the aquatic ones.”
In addition to those aquatic species, Koebernik says they are also looking for terrestrial varieties or land species.
“Garlic mustard, dames rocket, some of your invasive woody plants like buckthorn, honeysuckle, and autumn olive.”
Koebernik says in previous years, higher water levels in the bay helped a few of the invasive species begin to fall off. With the decreasing water levels now, they are seeing a resurgence of some of those plants, and they have plenty of areas left to take over.
At least for the aquatic invasive species, they tend to favor shallow water areas where they are protected from wind and erosion. European frogbit is becoming a concern, especially along Green Bay’s west shoreline, as it is a smaller plant and can be obscured by larger plants.
The rate at which the invasive plants spread depends mainly on the variety, as Koebernik explains phragmites and narrowleaf can form large stands in a year or two and others like the European frog bit can take longer.
No matter the time frame of the spread, these plants can outcompete native varieties if precautions are not taken when boating, fishing, camping, and hunting. The Wisconsin DNR offers helpful reminders on what to do after a day on the water.
“Cleaning off your trailer after each use, getting all the weeds, any type of vegetation really off of your trailer and your boat as well including kayaks and smaller watercraft. Drain your live wells and bait wells to keep the water from transporting to a different lake,” explains Koebernik.
The Wisconsin DNR also asks boaters and anglers to dry gear and equipment for a few days after usage as well as to not transport fish from one lake to another. If you are spending a day outside, the Wisconsin DNR has these reminders as well.
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“Clean off your clothes of any seeds that get attached to your clothes. also, use things like boot brushes or little brushes to lean your treads on your footwear. If you an upland hunter or even a waterfowl hunter, making sure that your pet or your dog is clean, getting the burrs and seeds out of their fur.”
The Wisconsin DNR is holding events on Invasive Species Awareness Day on June 22nd at various parks across the state. Volunteers will haul away invasive species found. They also ask residents to grow native plants in their gardens and cut down on any invasive species they may find on their property.
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