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Jul 11, 2023

Huron Pines seeks to educate public on invasive plant life

Aug 17, 2023 News Photo by Mike GonzalezChris Engle, communications associate for the environmental group Huron Pines, pulls invasive frogbit out of the water surrounding the kayak dock at Island Park

Aug 17, 2023

News Photo by Mike GonzalezChris Engle, communications associate for the environmental group Huron Pines, pulls invasive frogbit out of the water surrounding the kayak dock at Island Park on Wednesday.

ALPENA — One of the first things Chris Engle said before showing off the invasive plants in Michigan is that you can never unsee them after knowing what they look like.

“It’s like the movie, ‘The Matrix,'” Engle, communications associate at environmental group Huron Pines, said as he lifted his hands to his chest. “In one hand is the blue pill. You can live your life peacefully and without knowing about the plant life. In the other is the red pill. Once you see which ones are invasive, you can’t unsee them. They’re everywhere.”

As Engle moved down to the waterside, he pulled out what looked like miniature lily pads surrounding the kayak launching dock. The plant is called frogbit, he said, and it spreads in the water, taking up room from other aquatic plant life.

Huron Pines organizes days when its members and a number of AmeriCorp volunteers rake the frogbit out of the water. Afterward, they put the invasive species into their compost pile for others to pick up for personal gardens. Because the plant is aquatic in nature, it cannot grow in soil.

Many invasive plants spread like frogbit.

Engle said invasive plants vary in danger toward native species, but the key aspect of invasive plants is the ability to spread with little resistance.

The plants come from areas with blight, bugs, and other rival species that contain growth. In their new, non-native habitats, invasive plants no longer face any dangers and disperse at rapid rates, Engle said.

“In some ways, the invasive plants are like COVID,” Engle said. “When it first came around, there was no vaccine or knowledge to combat it. It invaded the body, and, over time, we found a way to stop the spread.”

While some invasive plants’ only danger pertains to rapid growth, others can harm human infrastructure.

Japanese knotweed is a persistent and dangerous plant in many places, Engle said as he showed large thickets of the bamboo-like stems. He said the best analogy for the plant is like the mythical beast the hydra. If you cut the stems without removing the root, it will come back larger and angrier.

The root also causes problems to human structures. It is very thick and durable, so it can break concrete. If close to a home, it has the potential to destroy a foundation and can also harm septic systems.

“What we have to do is cut it short,” Engle said. “The stems are hollow, so we usually cut it close to the ground and fill the stems with low-strength herbicide. It’s best to do this in the fall, because it’s close to winter. The plant roots try to hibernate in the cold and suck up any moisture, so it soaks up the herbicide.”

Engle pointed out over one dozen different invasive species in the hour he spent on Island Park.

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