Fighting Back Against Invasive Species

March 15, 2025

The Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program has grated $3.6 million to 32 projects across the state to fight invasive species in our lands and waterways. More than $700,000 of that total is headed to northern Michigan. The Benzie Conservation District received $89,900 for their Aquatic Invasive Species Pathways Program, which hosts free boat wash events and provides educational materials. Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network, which serves Benzie, Grant Traverse, Leelanau, and Manistee counties, received $82,000 to support their general efforts plus $298,300 to expand their Go Beyond Beauty project—which encourages people to plant native species in home gardening and landscaping—throughout the state. CAKE Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (that’s Charlevoix, Antrim, Kalkaska, and Emmet counties) got $70,000 in core funding plus $165,000 to fight the hemlock woolly adelgid infestations on public and private lands. See more at michigan.gov/invasives.

Photo: Hemlock Wooly Adelgid; Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy