The National Park Service (NPS) is taking steps to continue in its fight against invasive species, starting with planting trees in targeted areas throughout Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL).
This fall, SBDNL Rangers collaborated with scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians’ to plant trees near North Bar Lake. According to NPS, each young tree planted in the wetland will help to restore the ecosystem and fight against the effects of invasive species.
Emma Somers, a biological science technician that works on forest health projects at Sleeping Bear Dunes, helped with the implementation of the planting itself this past spring and fall. She said they planted five different species this year including red maple, yellow birch, paper birch, northern white cedar, and Dutch elm disease (DED) resistant American elm. The American elm is one species that has especially been affected by invasives for decades, as well as ash trees, which have been affected by the invasive emerald ash borer beetle.
Somers said each species planted, all of which are local to the area and exist in the park, were carefully selected by those from GTB and researchers with the forest service. Approximately 1,800 trees were planted in total, all from seedlings in little pods. Each species also holds cultural significance to the tribes that park staff consulted with and were predicted to do well in the years to come amid climate change.
“Some of the reasons it was picked is because of ease, it was near easy access for us by a trail because it was a lot of work to carry in supplies for 1,800 trees, but also it was the size of the plot and they wanted to pick an area where there was extreme canopy loss to restore an actual black ash wetland,” Somers explained. “They looked at the invasive plant pressures there, but really, it was kind of looking at the species that already existed there and where they thought our species would do well.”
Somers said this project specifi cally feels more important because it’s part of a bigger research project to study and fight invasives. The recently planted DED- resistant American elm, for example, will be monitored very closely by technicians/scientists with the U.S. Forest Service for survivorship.
“So it becomes part of this bigger picture that these spaces are drastically changing, some of them very quickly, in the face of these invasives and I think it’s just important to highlight all the things we can do to help restore these areas and all the work that everyone is putting into doing it,” she said.
