The Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee is seeking help in eliminating the invasive Spotted Knapweed – Centaurea maculosa .
Lee Ann Adams and Jim Raml of the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee went before the county board on August 24, 2010 to ask for its support for the vegetative management plan it has outlined in an 81-page document hot off the presses this spring.
“The Gunflint Trail is a major economic asset to the county,” Adams said. “Invasive species is a particular concern for us right now.” The 1999 blowdown and numerous fires over the last decade have opened up opportunities for aggressive invasive species to snatch up land and choke out native forest species, potentially even displacing the trees.
Former county engineer Shae Kosmalski had initiated a commission of stakeholders including the U.S. Forest Service, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Grand Portage Reservation, the U.S. Park Service, and the Scenic Byway Committee to address coordination of efforts to protect the natural landscape.
According to Raml, the governmental agencies, except for the county, have signed a memorandum of understanding, which qualifies them for federal money available for “cooperative management areas.” The only way to deal with invasive species, he said, is cooperatively.
An example of a site filled with invasive species is the old airport runway on Devil’s Track Lake, where spotted knapweed (a lavendercolored flower) is prospering. Raml said the Forest Service has been spot spraying for spotted knapweed.
“The invasive weed problems generally start on the roadsides and then go into the woods from there,” Adams said. The county’s cooperation is important because of that, since the county maintains the roadsides.
Adams and Raml asked the board for help in documenting invasive species along the Gunflint corridor, either through staff support or funding for GIS licensing and equipment. Commissioner Jim Johnson said he would talk to Kyle Oberg in the assessor’s office about helping them stay up-to-date in their documentation of where invasive species have been identified.
Adams and Raml also asked the county to help them make or fund about 20 more copies of their vegetative management plan, which Adams said costs $30 a copy. They would like to keep copies available at the public library and would like to make some CDs as well, which would be cheaper to reproduce. The plan can be found online by clicking on “Vegetative Management Plan” at www.gunflinttrail. com/the-gunflinttrail/a-scenic-byway/.
Commissioner Jan Hall said she would not be in favor of the county paying for more copies if the document will soon be outdated. Raml said they hope to update it every couple of years.
Grants and donations have funded the creation of the vegetative management plan and its printing so far, Raml said. He said they could sell the copies and return the money to the county. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja suggested that they have people pay in advance for copies if they want them.
The plan includes color photos of nonnative species that have shown up along the Gunflint Trail.
Unless we address what’s bringing this stuff into the county, community member Bob LaMettry said, the introduction of invasive species won’t stop. It comes in on everything from vehicle tires to hay that is fed to horses. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been spot spraying along Highway 61 in the West End and the DNR has been aerial spraying tree seedlings to reduce vegetative competition in Hovland.
Adams said the Scenic Byway Committee is not recommending aerial spraying. They do recommend hand pulling, mowing at appropriate times to reduce the spread of seeds, planting native species, and “when necessary, well-targeted and limited spot application of herbicides. Herbicide application should use delivery systems that reduce unintended drift.”
TheScenic Byway Committee hopes its plan can help governmental agencies as well as private property owners work together to prevent the spread of invasives and to protect the vegetation that is native to this area. Its goal is to maintain the byway’s “scenic, natural, and historic qualities.”
The committee also plans to continue organizing volunteers and implementing at least one vegetation project each year, such as the Gunflint Green Up which it initiated and has coordinated with the U.S. Forest Service for three years now. That project takes place at the beginning of May and involves planting trees or clearing undergrowth around new trees in order to increase their changes of growing to maturity.
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