On Thursday, October 16th, I answered the call for volunteers by the St. Lawrence River Institute for Phragmites Removal at Rotary Creek. It was an opportunity to contribute to the restoration of our local ecosystem.

Non-native Phragmites negatively impact wildlife and fishery by crowding out native vegetation, affecting agriculture, reducing habitat diversity, and impairing use of land. The dead stalks can also increase fire hazards.

Unlike the environmental management method recently used at Cooper Marsh – that of using goats to eat the invasive plant, which have proven to dramatically reduce them, we used the human method of cutting and spading. Some of us were assigned to use clippers to cut off and bag the seed heads while others used spades to cut the stems below the ground. After a couple of hours, our group had made a significant dent in removing the unwanted grasses. It is not that easy though, as this process must be repeated several times to succeed in exhausting the root system.

It was a lovely fall afternoon to be out in nature doing something productive and I think I might sign up to do it again.