DNR: Invasive Species Grants To Benefit Every MI County

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The Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program is providing $3.6 million to 31 projects across the state. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Invasive Species Coordinator Joanne Foreman tells WSJM News many of the grants are going to local Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas, or CISMAs, like the Southwest by Southwest CISMA in Van Buren County.

“They provide more of a local approach to invasive species prevent, management, and control,” Foreman said. “So, we rely heavily on these groups, which are collaborative in nature.”

Foreman says the grant program addresses prevention, detection, eradication and control of water-based and land-based invasive species.

“We have some really interesting outreach efforts going on this year. A lot of them have to do with our waterways and making sure that people who boat or fish or otherwise are using the water are aware of the ways that they can prevent moving invasives from one lake or stream to another.”

Michigan’s Legislature in 2014 designated $5 million in annual funding to address invasive species. To date, more than $29 million has been awarded to support 202 projects. Foreman says prevention is more effective than managing invasives that have become established. Right now, the state is watching out for the spotted lantern fly, which has caused problems in Pennsylvania. She says invasive species edge out native plant and wildlife, or in the case of Japanese knotweed, can cause damage to infrastructure.