Ridges Sanctuary Receives $200,000 Grant for Phragmites Control

The Ridges Sanctuary was awarded a $200,000, three-year grant to control invasive phragmites on 3,700 acres of Lake Michigan and Clark Lake shorelines. It was among 41 projects to receive nearly $2.4 million in fiscal 2016 surface water grants from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Brian Forest, land manager at The Ridges, said they are teaming up with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the Clark Lake advancement Association in the phragmites eradication effort. Students will be doing an inventory of phragmites on Ridges land in Baileys Harbor and Logan Creek. Forest said they will also be reaching out to neighbors in Baileys Harbor and Clark Lake to eradicate the aggressive invasive on neighboring property. The UWGB students are expected to begin the inventory in May and eradication will be done in the fall. Surface water management grants are submitted to DNR each year in February and this year the department received 50 grant applications totaling approximately $3 million. The competitive grant funds originate from a tax on fuel used by boats in Wisconsin.