The amount of the aquatic EWM acreage “increased considerably” this year in Lake Antoine, according to a recent Lake Antoine Association newsletter.

Wild parsnip, a tall plant with yellow flat-topped flowers when in bloom, also has been “spreading pretty rapidly along our roadside areas,” said Lindsay Peterson, the Wild Rivers Invasive Species Coalition coordinator.

EWM and wild parsnip are just two of many invasive species that often get transferred from place to place by humans — whether by boating, hiking or other recreational activity.

With that in mind, local experts are encouraging people to do their part and make sure they aren’t contributing to the unintentional spread of invasive species

HUNTER ROOSE, THE lake division manager/fisheries biologist for Cason & Associates and an Ishpeming native, holds up part of a Eurasian watermilfoil plant found at the Lake Antoine Park boat launch. Roose and Colton Hutchinson, a Cason & Associates staff biologist, treated roughly 11 acres of EWM at Lake Antoine with a herbicide Tuesday. (Ta’Leah Van Sistine/For The Daily News)

EWM at Lake Antoine

Cason & Associates of Berlin, Wis., on Tuesday treated roughly 11 acres of “high priority” and “dense” EWM in Lake Antoine with the herbicides Renovate 3 and Navigate.

In contrast to previous treatments, Cason & Associates this year did a side-by-side comparison of both herbicides to see which one is more effective, said Hunter Roose, the lake division manager/fisheries biologist for Cason & Associates.

Cason & Associates will return to Lake Antoine this fall to check on the EWM after treatment. But Roose said if the herbicides are successful, results can usually be seen after two weeks.

“You could start to see (the plants) turn a little bit brown,” Roose said, “which is a good sign that (the herbicides) are currently working on killing the Eurasian watermilfoil.”

While EWM can’t be completely eradicated from Lake Antoine, Roose said shrinking the EWM’s presence is a sign of success.

Lake Antoine Park Partners contributed $500 to EWM control this past April. LAPP Treasurer Ann Hruska said the donation “seemed more needed this year” because much of the recent EWM expansion came in front of the boat landings.

“That (infestation) was largely a product of last year’s high usership,” Hruska said. “People used the park very heavily because they were getting outdoors (during the pandemic).”

LAPP also helped produce and install two new advisory signs at Lake Antoine, Hruska said. One, funded by the Wild Rivers Invasive Species Coalition, will advise boaters on how and where to clean their boat. The second will be aimed at how kayaks and other non-motorized watercraft can stop the spread of invasive species.

“We need every bit of reminder that we can,” Hruska said. “We’ve been at this for a lot of years, but there’s still people that really don’t participate in taking care of their stuff. We really are trying to encourage individual boaters to take ownership of their own cleaning.”

LAA also received $6,000 from the Breitung Township Board and Dickinson County Board in April to pay for Lake Antoine herbicide treatment, according to a previous Daily News story.

Jean Constantini, vice president of the Lake Antoine Association, along with Jeff Jayne, secretary-treasurer of LAA, and Connie Jayne, an at-large LAA board member, all said they’re a part of a group that wants to do what’s right for the long-term health of Lake Antoine.

“We can’t sit and do nothing,” Constantini said.

Jeff Jayne said LAA decided to use herbicides to treat EWM because it’s the most cost-effective form of control. “We don’t have the type of budget to go into anything effectively other than the herbicides,” Jayne said.

Herbicide definitely has its time and its place to be used, Peterson from WRISC said, because sometimes it’s not possible to remove an invasive species manually, especially when its population is extensive.

If it’s a small population or a pioneering infestation — which means it’s the first of its kind to pop up — manual extraction works better than herbicides, Peterson said.

In aquatic situations, Peterson said the herbicides used for treatment typically have been researched extensively and demonstrated to have minimal effect on other aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish.

Both chemicals used to treat EWM on Lake Antoine are state-approved, Jeff Jayne noted.

LAA also monitors Lake Antoine water levels, with Connie Jayne explaining that if the lake gets too low, boats could chop up the milfoil with their motors and unintentionally spread it around the lake.

The lake for now has about 56 acres of scattered and highly scattered EWM and almost 12 acres of higher-density growth, according to the LAA’s newsletter.

Jeff Jayne said LAA will spend $19,409 on EWM this year, compared with an annual average of $15,300 the past 17 years. The cost this year includes obtaining the state permit, treating the invasive species and doing the fall survey to locate remaining EWM areas.

The LAA has a donation tube near the west boat launch for those interested in contributing toward Lake Antoine improvements.

Wild parsnip: A ‘hazard’

Peterson from WRISC said the organization will heavily target wild parsnip this year because of the hazard the invasive species poses to humans. Wild parsnip’s sap on skin reacts to sunlight and can raise burn-like blisters, according to Mayo Clinic’s website.

Children riding their bikes, people walking their dogs and groups doing highway cleanups, among others, could possibly be exposed to the invasive species.

Peterson said WRISC has received some funding for combating wild parsnip, so they hope to develop materials to help people identify the plant.

WRISC aims to control “pretty much every roadside population” of wild parsnip this year in Dickinson and Menominee counties, Peterson said, by cutting taproots, removing flower heads or treating the plants with herbicide.

The plant is a major bane to area road workers as well. Jim Harris, managing director of the Dickinson County Road Commission, said all new DCRC employees are trained on what wild parsnip looks like, so they know to avoid it.

“We have noticed a substantial increase along the roadside with wild parsnip,” Harris said.

The DCRC is teaming with the Michigan Department of Transportation for a third straight year on a “test section” for treating wild parsnip on M-69, Harris said. On the north side of the highway, DCRC is cutting the wild parsnip with a mower. On the south side, they are spraying the plants with chemicals to determine which offers the best control.

How to help

The WRISC had several events last week as a part of PlayCleanGo Awareness Week, an international campaign that aims to guide people on how to avoid spreading invasive plants and pests.

On June 10, at WRISC’s trail monitoring hike at Fumee Lake Natural Area, staff walked along the Little Fumee Lake Loop and used marking tape to identify invasive species near the trail, including common buckthorn, knotweed, autumn olive and knapweed.

“Trails are a big pathway of spread,” Katherine Mentel, the WRISC project manager, said. When seeds from invasive species get stuck to the bottom of hikers’ boots, hikers can spread the seeds while they walk, she explained.

Peterson from WRISC said events like the ones last week also aim to revitalize the organization’s volunteer program.

“We’re hoping to help educate (volunteers) on how to be aware of invasive species in the landscape, how to clean their gear and decontaminate everything to help stop the spread too,” Peterson said.

All of WRISC’s services are free and available to the public. Peterson said they can offer invasive species management advice for public and private properties, as well as free boat-washing to decontaminate for aquatic invasive species.

“It’s as easy as using a boot brush at your favorite hiking trail and picking seeds, dirt and plant parts off of your clothes when you’re done,” Peterson said. “We just want to do anything and everything we can to help slow the spread of all of these invasive species.”

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