From: Dr. Leslie Kuhn, Coordinator, Mid-Michigan Stewardship Initiative
Mid-Michigan Stewardship Initiative, working with Ingham County Parks, has begun its 2011 Phragmites and Japanese knotweed control program in the Lake Lansing watershed. Would you be interested in participating, meaning working in the field for a half day or more? Our wetlands are wonderful places to observe up close. Happily, we are finding that many of the sites where we have treated phragmites twice before have almost none left, and native plants are emerging! This volunteer program is also a way for us to train folks to treat phragmites on their own sites.
Generally we start at 9:30am at Lake Lansing Park South's maintenance shop, assembling ourselves and our gear, and head out to the field at 10am. We return for lunch around 12:30, then go out and work for another two to three hours in the field, generally ending the day by 5pm. Most of the sites are wet and some are mucky, so long pants and knee-high rubber boots and an appreciation of new experiences are good! You'll also want to wear a long-sleeved shirt; we can provide water, snacks, safety glasses and rubber gloves. We can lend you a largish pair of rubber boots, or you can wear tennis shoes you don't mind getting very muddy. We have great camaraderie and accomplish a lot on behalf of our wetlands, too! The work involves spraying a dilute, water-safe solution of glyphosate on the leaves of the phragmites plant. It is quite a safe herbicide that is not persistent in the environment. The footing where we work is often uneven, so having a sense of humor about getting wet or muddy is good! There are always cool things to see and learn about out there, and it's my favorite outdoor work!
Below, you'll find our schedule of upcoming dates. Please let the leader for that day know in advance when you plan to come (see contact info just below), so you can meet up okay and gear will be ready for you. If you have any questions about what is involved, don't hesitate to contact me or one of the other leaders. We sincerely hope you can join us!
Pat Witte, Park Manager - cell phone (517) 204-6352; pwitte@ingham.org
Blake Price, Ass't Park Manager - cell phone (517) 775-1352; bprice@ingham.org
Laurie Kaufman - home 339-0380; lkaufman@msu.edu
Nick Sanchez - home (517) 580-4927; sanch137@msu.edu
Leslie Kuhn - home 339-3854; work 353-8745; kuhnL@msu.edu
Upcoming phragmites treatment dates:
Sat., Aug. 27: Leslie, *Nick
Mon., Aug. 29: Laurie, *Nick, Leslie
Tues., Aug. 30: *Pat, *Blake, Leslie
Sat., Sep. 3: *Nick, Leslie
Thurs., Sep. 8: *Blake, Laurie (am), Nick (pm)
Fri., Sep. 9: *Leslie, Laurie
Sun., Sep. 11: *Nick, Leslie
Tues., Sep. 13: *Pat, *Blake, Laurie
Thurs., Sep. 15: *Pat, Laurie (am), Nick (pm)
Fri., Sep. 16: *Pat, Laurie, Leslie, Nick (pm)
Sat., Sep. 17: *Nick, Leslie
Tues., Sep. 20: *Pat, *Blake, Laurie
Thurs., Sep. 22: *Blake, Laurie (am), Nick (pm)
Fri., Sep. 23: *Blake, Laurie, Leslie, Nick (pm)
Sat. Sep. 24: *Nick, Leslie
Tues., Sep. 27: *Pat, *Blake
Fri., Sep. 30: *Pat, Nick (pm), Leslie (* for MSU portion), Tom Valli (MSU)
Sat., Oct. 1: Leslie, *Nick
Dr. Leslie Kuhn, Coordinator
Mid-Michigan Stewardship Initiative
http://www.stewardshipnetwork.org/midmich
midmich@stewardshipnetwork.org