Ducks Unlimited targets Phragmites

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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Kristin Schrader 734.623.2000 kschrader@ducks.org