First, if you have phragmites in your area of the lake, please cut and burn last year's plant material as soon as possible. As you do the removal, please take care to burn or bag and remove all seed heads to minimize the chance of spreading phragmites by seeds. These dead plants can flash very hot and fast, so be sure to have a water source available. You'll also need to be sure there is no fire ban at the time. As an alternative, you may double bag the plants and place them in the trash, but again please pay attention to avoid seed dispersal.

Second, you should know that several very active groups, covering all of northwestern Michigan are attacking phragmites. This effort started with Pam Grassmick on Beaver Island and a group she organized a couple years ago and has grown to include people all the way from Traverse City north to the Mackinaw Bridge. Obviously this is important to us, because if we aren't able to stop new plants from coming in, we will always have a problem. Having said that, it is still likely that we will need to monitor and treat small stands and individual plants on a regular and ongoing basis. The first two or three years of much more aggressive treatment will knock down the larger stands, and then individuals should be able to control their own properties in the future.

With this long range plan in mind, the phragmites committee (now named the "Environmental Committee") of the Lake Charlevoix Association intends to build on our first-year program with the following schedule for 2010:

Phrag Buster Calendar for 2010