This morning the ABCA passed through Port Franks along Outer Drive as Nathan Scholier (Stewardship and Conservation Lands Manager) lead participants in a guided tour of the Authority’s many holdings and projects in the area. LSPCG Directors Janice and Petar Cuckovic were waiting to hop on board and give the participants some context for what exactly they were looking at:
This is L Lake and the surrounding wetland. In 2019 the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group initiated an important wetland restoration project at the east end of L Lake.
This unique Area of Natural and Scientific Interest is home to a spectacular array of species found collectively nowhere else in Canada, many of them are at risk. Most notably is the Lake Chubsucker which is globally only found here in two specific areas of L Lake. The surrounding wetland is a vital part of a rare Oak Savanna ecosystem and is designated an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest.
Work began in 2019 with manual cutting and Truxor work. It was quite possibly the hottest day of the summer and a large group of community volunteers was out spading, removing seed heads, tarping and using cane cutters, and out in canoes and small boats retrieving the cut Phragmites from the water. The Municipality of Lambton Shores arrived with a front end loader and dump truck and hauled away several full loads of removed biomass. A lunch was provided. The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority treated cells of Phragmites on land in the fall of that year.
The next summer, a second community volunteer event was held to aid with the removal of dead stalks and cutting to drown emergent stalks. After that NCC and ABCA took over the control work as part of an expanded project area which included herbicide treatments using habitat aqua. A controlled burn was carried out to help the natural seed bed regenerate by breaking down the biomass. Dormant seasonal biomass was removed and last winter we had another crew of community volunteers out on the frozen wetland cutting and removing dead biomass. The work continues to restore what was once a huge solid monoculture of Phragmites into its natural condition. Every year there is less of the stuff!
The Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group is a grassroots group of retired people formed over a decade ago. We gratefully acknowledge our many partners, for this particular project area we are thankful for Dr. Janice Gilbert of the Invasive Phragmites Control Centre, the Lambton Shores Nature Trails group which can rally volunteers in a heartbeat, the Municipality of Lambton Shores, Nature Conservancy Canada, and of course the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority!
