Invasive reed concerns Westside
Toolbox
By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff - Published: October 3, 2007
WEST RUTLAND — Cleaning up the marsh may soon take on new meaning.
The wetlands are always a focus of efforts on Green Up Day, with volunteers pulling out large amounts of trash. The Select Board is looking at how to remove something else it doesn't want there, an invasive reed grass named phragmites.
The board met last week with Sally Eugair, a soil conservation technician for the United States Department of Agriculture, to talk about how to rein in the unwelcome grass.
Phragmites is a common plant, one version of which is native to the state, but a non-native version has been spreading and, according to officials, threatens a number of habitats.
The marsh, which covers 2,100 acres according to acting town manager Paul Myers, is a destination for birdwatchers and has been declared a "very important birding area" by the Audubon Society.
"We're just observer status right now," said Roy Pilcher, co-president of the Rutland County chapter of the Vermont Audubon Society, in reference to the control plans. "We want to get all the facts and figures. I don't think we're there yet."
The marsh is host to species of birds including the least and American bittern, the Virginia rail, the pied-billed grebe and the blue-winged warbler. The danger posed by the phragmites, Pilcher said, is that they displace the cattails in the marsh.
"Cattails are good for the marsh, good for the birds, good for the mammals," he said. "Phragmites don't have any food value. Cattails can feed some animals in the marsh. They're a place for nesting. Cattails are the normal, functioning plant for the marsh that the animals there have evolved to take advantage of."
The result is a destroyed habitat.
"It's a problem in many, many wildlife areas," Pilcher said.
The most-discussed control method is use of a chemical herbicide, though Eugair said there could be other options.
"They've tried in different areas covering it with plastic," she said. "That doesn't really work, apparently. I have to bring in all the experts."
Eugair said she was not aware of any successful phragmites control programs in Vermont, but Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York have all seen successful efforts she hopes Vermont will be able to learn from.
Eugair repeatedly stressed the preliminary nature of the effort, saying she is still waiting for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine for certain if the strain of phragmites in the marsh is a native or alien strain.
Once that is done, Eugair said, the next step will be to determine just how much of the marsh is affected. She said treatments could cost between $75 and $250 an acre. She said the town is looking into a federal program that might pay 75 percent of the cost.
The town would also have to get a permit from the wetlands section of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
"It's not going to happen overnight," she said. "I strongly feel if something's not started to slow down the phragmites, our little marsh is going to be gone and we're going to lose some good habitat out there."
Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.
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