By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
What can grow up to 15 feet tall, has a rigorous 30 foot root system and reproduces like mad?
Phragmites, an invasive species that Orion Township is trying to eliminate.
Orion Township is approaching the phragmites outbreak, as well as several other invasive species in southeast Michigan, hand in hand with several neighboring communities.
By forming the Oakland Phragmites and other Invasive Species (OPIS) Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) grant proposal, Orion Township will partner with Oakland County Parks and Recreation, Brandon Township, Groveland Township, Independence Township, Oxford Township, Springfield Township, Waterford Township, the City of the Village of Clarkston and the Village of Lake Orion to apply for a chunk of the $3.6 million in Michigan grant funding in 2015 for the treatment of invasive species.
Orion Township and Independence Township are spearheading the group effort, which will require each entity to budget for a 10 to 50 percent match required by the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program.
The Orion Township board of trustees approved the memorandum of understanding to set aside funds not to exceed $25,000 in grant-matching at the board meeting Nov. 17, about a 20 percent match.
CISMA would seek a grant of around $250,000 from the state. If approved, disbursement would depend on how much each entity of CISMA pledges to match.
Supervisor Chris Barnett said this initiative encompasses the efforts of existing organizations along with establishing new local management structures to help eradicate phragmites, black and pale swallow-wort, Japanese and giant knotweed, flowering rush and Eurasian water milfoil.
He is enthusiastic the group-effort approach will prove to be successful.
‘By combining our efforts we have a real and unique advantage,? he said ‘I’m really optimistic because we are organized and the community is already engaged through the extensive work of our Environmental Resource Committee (ERC).?
Sue Donovan, who delivered the ERC’s presentation to the board Monday night, said combating phragmites is no easy task.
They are everywhere.
‘I could tell you where they’re not growing rather than tell you where they are,? she joked.
Earlier this spring the ERC mapped out all of Orion Township for invasive species and observed phragmites growth in nearly every part of the township, she said.
Not only are they prevalent in Bald Mountain State Park, large populations are also growing by Powers Distributing off Giddings Rd., the GM Orion Plant, the Gingell Nature Area, by G’s Pizza on Lapeer, along the new complex being built at Lapeer and Scripps, all along Maybee Rd., and in most woodland areas and wetlands, just for a few examples she said.
‘The problem is not just a cosmetic problem, they are growing exponentially. The only real way to get rid of them is by killing the root with a chemical treatment on the plant itself at the appropriate time of year because it will shrivel the root. You cannot pull them out or cut them down, that only encourages them.?
Not only are they difficult to completely remove with the enormous root system’which can grow under large parking lots all the way to the other side? they spread very easily.
One example is by mowing them down which disperses their seeds through the air, a major reason you see them along the roadways and homeowner’s backyards bordering wetlands.
They are also a large fire hazard too. Unlike most weeds, phragmites do not completely die in the winter but instead brown over and remain erect, something homeowners should watch out for.
If approved, the grant money would be used to administer programs to control the spread of phragmites along with set up informational meetings to teach the public about their eradication.
The grant application is due Dec. 5, and Barnett said the township should know at the beginning of January if they have been accepted for an allocation of the funding.
Donovan also made another important comment.
‘Now is the time that local homeowner’s associations are having their budget meetings, and it might be a great time to put some money aside for phragmites treatment to take care of next year,? she said, adding they could figure in about $300 an acre.