McLeod, C. (2022, December 20). Forest health workshop educates landowners, timber professionals on invasive species. Upper Michigans Source.com. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2022/12/20/forest-health-workshop-e ducates-landowners-timber-professionals-invasive-species/

In Iron Mountain, Michigan 45 landowners and timber professionals gathered at a workshop hosted by the Wild Rivers Invasive Species Coalition (i.e., WRISC). There, they learned about the health of upper Michigan’s forests, including hearing speakers talk about invasive species and what programs are available to them to help combat their effects. Some invasive species mentioned at the workshop were common buckthorn, the emerald ash borer, and oak wilt. Lindsay Peterson, a WRISC coordinator, stated that there was a “high turnout” to the event, which hopefully “means that people care about these issues.”

This article relates to environmental science because it describes three invasive species that are present in upper Michigan. These are common buckthorn, the emerald ash borer, and oak wilt. The emerald ash borer is a beetle native to Asia that feeds on ash trees, and oak wilt is a fungal disease native to the midwestern United States. Because all three of these invasive species are not in their native environment when they are in upper Michigan forests, they are able to reproduce and spread rapidly, consuming resources used by native organisms, which leads to a decline in the populations of local organisms, disrupting upper Michigan’s various forest ecosystems. I am really glad that people are taking the threat of invasive species seriously. It isn’t that much of a surprise to me that people are, as the danger nonnative species pose is not really a hot button topic like climate change, but it is still good to know that people are taking it seriously. If people are voluntarily showing up to this workshop, it means that they must care about this issue, which means that they will likely follow the recommendations presented to them there about how to reduce the negative impacts of these invasive species. Therefore, I am hopeful that, with the right programs and plans, landowners and timber professionals will be able to get common buckthorn, the emerald ash borer, and oak wilt under better control in upper Michigan’s forests.