By LeAnn R. Ralph
TOWN OF SHERIDAN — That plant in your backyard has kind of a pretty flower, but it has taken over everything else and now you can’t get rid of it.
The Lower Chippewa Invasive Partnership is hoping you will want to find out more information about what that plant is, and if it is an invasive, work to eradicate it.
To help raise awareness about LCIP and invasive plants in our area, the organization is holding a series of community meetings this year, beginning with a meeting at the Sheridan Town Hall February 27.
LCIP is a nonprofit organization consisting of citizens, agencies, businesses and organizations working together to educate the public about invasive species and to work on control of invasive species in West Central Wisconsin.
Invasives began to be regulated in 2009, and LCIP provides tours and workshops during the summer to help people learn to identify invasives, said Chris Gaetzke, executive director of LCIP.
LCIP also works with individual landowners to do site visits, to make an inventory of invasive species and to identify some next steps toward a plan for removing the invasives, he said.
The organization also works with corporations, such as Andersen Windows and 3M, on projects using volunteers from the companies, such as cleaning up a park, Gaetzke said.
LCIP’s focus has always been on removing invasive species, but this year is the second year of LCIP promoting native trees and shrubs, he said.
Native trees and shrubs bring back biodiversity and provide competition for invasives, Gaetzke said.
LCIP ordered 500 native plants this year, and about half of them are already sold, said Kathy Stahl, LCIP member and resident in the Town of Colfax.
The plants are available on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.
With “Spread the word, not the plant” as their motto, LCIP targets six invasive species in West Central Wisconsin: Leafy Spurge, Wild Parsnip, Common Buckthorn, Japanese Knotweed, Garlic Mustard and Spotted Knapweed.
Out of the six, Wild Parsnip is the most harmful to people because coming in contact with the plant can cause red, blistering, itchy rashes that rival, or in some cases surpass, poison ivy in their severity.
Management plans
LCIP is working with cities, villages, townships and counties as well to work invasives into the municipality’s management plan, Gaetzke said.
When invasives are located in a right-of-way, municipalities can take steps that will go toward helping to control the invasive, he said.
LCIP is working on a roadside monitoring program, too, with a pilot project in Dunn County to identify native plans and invasives and then to plot their locations on an interactive map online, Gaetzke said.
LCIP also would like to build more citizen monitoring, Stahl noted.
For those who want to focus on encouraging native plants to grow on their property, Margaret Murphy, Extension Dunn County — UW-Madison horticulture program coordinator, has a variety of resources available about native plants and can put people in contact with several Master Gardeners whose focus is on native plants.
Murphy works in Dunn, Chippewa, Eau Claire and Polk County.
Wild Chervil
Although Wild Chervil is not one of LCIP’s six targeted species of invasives, it is a restricted plant, and there has been a good effort among landowners and municipalities to slow it down, Gaetzke said.
Wild Chervil has a fern-like leaf, grows to be two or three feet tall, has a white flower head, and begins setting seeds in June, he said.
Once Wild Chervil takes over a ditch, for example, it chokes out all other plants, and then spreads through waterways into fields and wooded areas, Gaetzke said.
The reason Wild Chervil is so difficult to control is because it sets seeds in June before municipalities start to mow their ditches, and when municipalities start to mow, the Wild Chervil seeds are released onto the landscape, he said.
Another problem with Wild Chervil is even if it is mowed before it sets seeds, the short, mowed-off plants will still set seeds.
“Mowing will slow it down, but it won’t stop it,” Gaetzke said.
The Towns of Sheridan, New Haven, Grant and Howard have problems with Wild Chervil, which has been spreading from the north, he said.
Coming soon
Gaetzke said he expects to soon see problems with three other invasive species of plants.
One plant is Common and Cutleaf Teasel.
The flower head looks somewhat like a thistle, and because of its unique shape and spiky head, is popular in flower arrangements, he said.
In one instance, a flower arrangement with Teasel was placed on a grave in a cemetery, and not long after that, the cemetery was infested with it, Gaetzke said.
Common and Cutleaf Teasel, which is a restricted plant, is showing up along the Interstate-94 corridor at Baldwin and Osseo, he said.
Grecian Foxglove, a prohibited plant, is now in the Stillwater area, Gaetzke said.
The plant starts out as an attractive rosette of green leaves the first year, and then in the second year, and subsequent years, sends up a single flowering head with tubular creamy white to pale yellow flowers arranged in an elongated cluster.
According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s website, Grecian Foxglove is toxic to humans, livestock and wildlife. If the plant is cut and dried and ends up in baled hay, it can result in livestock poisoning. Established stands produce a vast amount of seeds, which can be spread by a variety of means, such as wind, water, people, wildlife and using soil for fill that contains Grecian Foxglove seeds.
Hennepin County and Washington County in Minnesota have reported infestations of Grecian Foxglove. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture recommends people wear protective clothing and rubber gloves when handling the plant.
Another restricted invasive plant that is moving in from the north is Common Tansy, Gaetzke said.
Common Tansy is a member of the aster family and has frilly green leaves and yellow “button” flowers that are up to about a half inch in diameter.
According to the Minnesota DNR’s website, Common Tansy is “distasteful and even toxic to some grazing animals.”
Meetings
LCIP has scheduled a series of community meetings throughout the rest of the year.
All meetings begin at 2 p.m.
LCIP’s annual meeting will be on March 26 at Old Towne in Menomonie, 903 Cedar Falls Road.
Other meetings include April 23 at the Elk Mound Community Center; May 28 at the Chippewa Rod & Gun Clubhouse; July 23 at Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek; August 27 at the Arkansaw Community Center; September 24 in either Spring Valley or River Falls; October 22 at the Dunn Town Hall in Downsville; and November 19 in Chippewa Falls.
For more information about the Lower Chippewa Invasives Partnership, visit
www.lcinvasives.org.
If you have a plant on your property that you think might be invasive, and want to identify what it is, Gaetzke says you are more than welcome to e-mail a picture of it to him at [email protected].
