A Sundridge-based environmental group is broadening its area of interest to help increase awareness of an invasive plant that is a threat to native plants and animal life.
Members of the Phragmites Working Group Lake Bernard were recently on Premier Road in North Bay talking to several homeowners about the danger the plant poses.
The chair of the group, Marilee Koenderink, says phragmites were introduced to Ontario during the 1800s by ships making their way to the Great Lakes using the St. Lawrence Seaway. The plant more recently made its way along the Highway 11 corridor during the 1990s as a result of being attached to construction vehicles and ATVs and has a large presence in the Sundridge region.
Each summer and early fall, group members known as Phrag-Fighters remove as many of the phragmites stands as they can that are on land and in Lake Bernard. North Bay's Premier Road is adjacent to Lake Nipissing.
Koenderink says one homeowner told the Phrag-Fighters that the beach “was one of the more pleasant ones” 40 years ago but is now difficult to use because of the arrival of phragmites. The Phrag-Fighters were on Premier Road to educate homeowners about the dangers of the plant and how to get rid of it.
“We made the point of saying how important it is to conserve and maintain our native species as opposed to letting the invasive species come in and take over,” Koenderink said. “We were there just for educational purposes. But one question we asked was, 'Do you know what this (plant) is and how to get rid of it.'”
Koenderink says the residents appreciated the information.
Indigenous students with Canadore College's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) program were also on site and Koenderink says they were shown how to remove the invasive plant.
Koenderink says it's difficult to pinpoint just how phragmites ended up in the Premier Road area but she has a theory. She says along Cranberry Trail in the Callander Bay area, which isn't far from Premier Road, the Phrag-Fighters noticed an established phragmites site.
“It could have broken off and moved,” Koenderink said adding simple ice movements on a water body can accomplish this.
Koenderink says the Phrag-Fighters only looked at one property on Premier Road that had phragmites but it was clearly evident on neighbouring properties “and that made sense because it's a plant that spreads very quickly”.
“It also makes sense to be on the alert for it and make sure it doesn't take hold on other people's private properties or municipal land,” she said.
Koenderink adds once people understand how destructive the plant can be, they are more interested in learning how to remove it.
“And this is a tenacious plant,” she said. “Sometimes you have to stay on it for four years or longer”.
Koenderink speaks from experience.
The Phrag-Fighters members of Sundridge, Strong and Joly are now into their fifth summer of tackling the invasive species in their area. During the visit to Premier Road, someone found a baby Midland Painted Turtle.
“If you want species like this to survive, you need to remove the phragmites,” Koenderink said. “Fresh water turtles are threatened by phragmites. One reason is they lose their nesting grounds because the phragmites take over the area. In the case of the baby turtle we found, it was in close proximity to where phragmites were taking over”.
Koenderink says the Lake Bernard group is now trying to get a "No Phrag in the Mag" group going in the Village of Magnetawan.
This year much of the work it is accomplishing is due to a grant from the TD Canada Trust Bank under its Friends of the Environment Foundation program. The grant will let the Phrag-Fighters carry out 10 demonstration sites in the Nipissing and Parry Sound Districts this summer.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
