Volunteers remove invasive phragmites along Lake Huron shore. Photo: Huron Pines
By Richie Cozzolino
A smartphone app is one way organizations are working to combat invasive species across Michigan.
Now, a grant by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources may assist the app makers and others working towards a similar goal.
The agency has created a grant program for organizations and government agencies to rid Michigan of terrestrial and aquatic invasive species. A 12-member committee from the DNR and the Department of Environmental Quality will review applications for $3.6 million in grants, for the Invasive Species Grant Program.
Sarah LeSage, Michigan’s aquatic invasive species program coordinator and member of the committee, says “the grant is very open, and we’re accepting applications from both the state and local level.”
Invasive species are any animal or plant from another ecosystem that harms ecological, economic, social and public health, according to the DNR.
Phragmites, European frogbit, Japanese and giant knotweed, garlic mustard are among the invasive species in the Lower Peninsula that the grants will address.
Winners of the awards will be announced Feb. 15. The minimum grant is $25,000, with no cap on the amount a single organization can receive. The application deadline is today, Dec. 5.
The program is not limited to applicants doing research of eradicating invasive species.
“Because of the wide variety of the grant, we needed a diverse group of people evaluating the proposals,” said LeSage.
The grants focus on six areas:
- regional cooperative prevention, detection, eradication and control
- ontegrated and novel approaches towards treating Eurasian water milfoil and other aquatic invasive plant species in Michigan lakes and waterways
- reduction of forest disease incidence and transfer
- prevention of new forest invaders,
- enhancing public reporting, species identification and documentation of treatment histories for aquatic and terrestrial invasive species in Michigan
Another category encompasses projects outside that scope.
The committee will judge applications based on project purpose and scope, management, likelihood of success and theme area focus.
Committee member Ron Murray, an expert on forest diseases, said applicants so far have been related to universities and local governments.
Murray said the program is looking for projects that would remove invasive species from an area and support other related government programs, such as a university doing biology research.
Amos Ziegler, a research scientist in the department of entomology at Michigan State University leads one group applying for the grant. He leads a geospatial laboratory and has applied for a grant to identify and document the history of invasive pests in Michigan.
“Most of the stuff we do has to do with mapping invasive species,” said Ziegler. “We have a smartphone application, the Midwest Invasive Species Informational Network (MISIN), where users report invasive species.”
The application spans 11 Midwest states but emphasizes its Michigan roots. The data from the app flows from an array of sources and is used for both education and to connect to state and federal agencies.
“We try to produce a bigger, better picture of the distribution of invasive species in the state of Michigan and beyond,” said Ziegler.
While university or governmental agencies may have priority when it comes to grants, Murray said that shouldn’t dissuade other applicants.
“People shouldn’t be bashful when thinking about putting in a grant application,” Murray said. “Even if it isn’t a perfect fit, it gives us an idea about what the needs are out there.”