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The UPRC&D Council Has A New AmeriCorps Member: Dan Watt
Dan Watt demonstrating Sea Lamprey biology to students at a YMCA camp in Ocqueoc, MI

As a Huron Pines AmeriCorps member Dan will be serving at the UPRC&D Council as the Invasive Plant Specialist.  Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Management from Grand Valley State University and has previously worked at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas as a plant ecology intern, and as a member of the Huron Pines Restoration Field Crew in Gaylord, MI.  Throughout his service term at the UPRC&D Council, Dan’s main focus will be on garlic mustard and non-native Phragmites mapping and management.  He will continue garlic mustard management efforts started under the RRIP-IT-UP project (details on the RRIP-IT-UP tab in the left column) by educating students, recruiting volunteers to help manage infestations, developing outreach materials, and attending events to promote awareness of garlic mustard issues.  Since this is the second and final year of funding for our U.P. wide Phragmites project, Dan will continue efforts to survey and map phragmites infestations and visit with landowners to provide them with invasive plant technical assistance.  Also, as a certified pesticide applicator, Dan will help the local conservation districts to treat outlying infestations.     

 

Another important part of Dan’s service will be working wih all five Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMAs) developing outreach materials to increase exposure of a new group called the Upper Peninsula Invasives Council (UPIC).  We hope the formation of this group will facilitate communication between the five CWMAs to more efficiently manage invasive species.  Dan has already implemented a bimonthly electronic newsletter called The UPIC eNews which highlights projects, invasive species news, stories from the field, or anything of interest to the 5 CWMAs.  Dan will also serve on the conference planning committee for the 5th annual Northern Great Lakes Invasive Species Conference, which will be held in the fall of 2014.
Participate in the AmeriCorps U.P. Signiture Service Project
On May 17th the UPRC&D Council’s AmeriCorps member, Dan Watt, along with members from Northern Michigan University and the Marquette Alger Regional Education Service Agency will be hosting the U.P. Wide Signature Service Project.  This project brings together AmeriCorps members and community volunteers from all over the U.P. to participate in a community wide service project in Marquette, Michigan.  This year we are partnering with the Superior Watershed Partnership and Moosewood Nature Center.  Volunteers will be assisting the Superior Watershed Partnership by planting dune grass and pulling the invasive plant spotted knapweed along the Lake Superior Shoreline.  The Moosewood Nature Center will be having volunteers build a natural recreation area for children at a site just outside their building.  We think this project will be a lot of fun and we hope it will inspire people to become involved in their communities.  Our goal this year is to have 50 volunteers, so please come out and support the community!

 

For more information and to volunteer for this project contact Dan Watt at daniel.watt@uprcd.org     

 

UP RC&D Council Receives $458,160 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant

 
The Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council has been awarded another grant to fight invasive species in the UP of Michigan. The Council will receive $458,160 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes Program for our project entitled “ Invasive Phragmites Control in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula”. Utilizing grant funds, the UP RC&D Council will work with partners to restore or enhance 400 acres of coastal shoreline and wetlands in the UP during 2013 and 2014 by controlling invasive phragmites (Phragmites australis). These restoration activities will help to minimize a serious threat to native coastal wetlands and improve habitat for vulnerable species. We will seek to establish long-term control by reducing known populations and coordinating efforts across jurisdictions and land ownerships to maximize benefits and efficiency. Throughout the project we will take advantage of the Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) network of partners by training them to identify 20 additional high-threat species that have the potential to occur in the UP Great Lakes coastal zone.  We will also collaborate with the project leaders from the other large-scale phragmites control projects in the upper Great Lakes to exchange ideas and develop cooperative strategies for long-term control in the region. Training partners to detect, monitor and treat invasive phragmites will increase local capacity to assume responsibility for control efforts after this project is completed. 

 

More information about this project and how you can report locations of invasive phragmites in the UP can be found on Phragmites Project page. The UP Phragmites Project Landowner Permission Form can be found on the Project page. When you get to that page scroll down to the "Documents Section" and select the permission form document to view and print.

 


 

 

 
This page last updated on 4/14/2014.
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