Field Season Wrap-up from DC Invasive Species Team

Door County Soil and Water Conservation District seasonal staff member Sam Hoffman ties phragmites for bundle cutting. Submitted.

A total of 143 acres of invasive species were treated this year

by Sam Koyen, Conservationist, Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department 

The 2020 field season was a busy one for the Door County Invasive Species Team (DCIST)! This year was certainly a challenge – public-outreach and education strategies had to be modified because of the pandemic – but it was also a time of important discoveries, research, outreach, collaboration and control of invasive species in Door County.

These innovative efforts would not have been possible without the Door County community, DCIST partners and amazing seasonal staff members. These include Sam Hoffman and Tina Lee of the Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department; Andrew Bowker, Jacob Smither and Britney Hirsch of UW-Green Bay; and Ben Epley of The Ridges Sanctuary. 

Door County Clean Boats Clean Waters participants were able to inspect 860 boats and provide aquatic invasive species prevention messages to nearly 2,000 people while taking proper health-safety precautions. Partner properties saw higher volumes of use than during previous years – they identified two to three times more visitors than during a typical year.

Additionally, DCIST staff participated in 105 one-to-one landowner visits to assist with landowners’ concerns about invasive species on their properties and make recommendations about management strategies. These efforts involved identifying and mapping priority invasive species and treating the identified populations on both public and private lands. Later this year, these data will be shared at map.co.door.wi.us/map. During 2020, DCIST inventoried and treated approximately 52 acres of phragmites, 1.3 acres of teasel, 1.3 acres of Japanese knotweed, 35 acres of wild parsnip and 1.1 acres of prohibited invasive species (black swallow-wort, porcelain berry and five-leaf akebia vine).

Additionally, 53 acres of nonpriority invasive species (buckthorn, garlic mustard and more) were treated. In all, a total of 143 acres of invasive species were treated this year.

As we head into winter, DCIST will be preparing for another successful year of invasive-species education, monitoring and control efforts in Door County.

Sam Hoffman, Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department, contributed to this report.