A Q&A with Lisa Brush of The Stewardship Network, a group that has revolutionized how Michigan's land managers strategize and collaborate to keep natural areas healthy, functional, and free from invasive species.

In the late '90s, a small group of concerned Ann Arbor naturalists wanted to get serious about fighting invasive species in urban natural areas. With major threats like

What began as an informal partnership between the

Rapid Growth: How did The Stewardship Network get started?

Lisa Brush:

We started several "collective conservation communities" in different geographic areas in Michigan that we call "clusters," and more and more folks across the state began asking us to do it in their region. At first our answer was no because we didn't have the capacity. But as time went on, I turned to our advisory committee and said, "Hey, apparently we're on to something unique here." We became a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2004.

RG: Why should people in Michigan care about invasive species? What impact do they have in our daily lives and in our communities?

LB: The clean air that we breathe, the clean water that we drink, the food that we eat, all of these nature-based services are often invisible to us. We just take it for granted -- flood protection, crop pollination. We didn't necessarily think about our drinking water until the crisis in Flint happened. Then we started thinking about our drinking water a lot.

There are several invasive species that can severely impact property values. For example, phragmites, which is very common across southern Michigan, can block views. Japanese knotweed can grow through foundations, and Eurasian water milfoil can make lakefront property unappealing for recreation and not aesthetically pleasing.

Conversely, natural areas with healthy function can improve property value, views, and aesthetics.

Some invasive species can harbor insects and pests that can negatively impact our food crops.

And a diverse ecosystem is more resilient, and that's going to be an important thing for us as we move forward with climate change.

But it's important to understand that our mission is not to eradicate invasive species. What we are trying to do is restore native ecosystem function, so that pollination can happen and wetlands can function.

RG: What are some of the big successes you've seen in the struggle to restore native ecosystem function in Michigan?

LB: On a large scale, the introduction of the

Success comes when you're willing to take the long view, to reintroduce natural processes like prescribed ecological fire and do invasive species control. After you're at it for a long time, you start to see results. For example, a species of concern might show up for the first time in 60 years.

The other piece of success is an increased level of awareness about how ecosystems function. For example, in our Raisin Cluster in the Raisin River watershed, we have a group of 10 contiguous property owners who have banded together to do invasive species control and prescriptive fire on their landscape. That type of cross-boundary work is critical because we know ecosystems don't start and end at property lines.

Another success story is our annual

You can't do invasive species control one or two or even three years at a time. You really have to have the long view. It's like raising a kid. It's a long commitment.

RG: How about failure? Where have we lost the battle in Michigan?

LB:

Other failures come from using improper techniques or timing, like expending effort to cut and herbicide woody invasive species in the springtime, when it's not effective. Or from a lack of information about how a plant works, like cutting a clonal black locust. That just results in a problem that's much worse than if they had done nothing.

Because of our cross-cluster communication, we are able to facilitate early detection of problem species. In our Raisin Cluster, we detected a site of

We do this via email lists, and we have an annual summit of cluster coordinators. In the cluster support office, we serve as the hub to make sure that information gets passed on. We do periodic webcasts with cluster coordinators and planning committees, where one cluster at a time shares what they are doing, their success and failures, challenges and opportunities, and other folks can ask questions and learn.

RG: How can concerned citizens get involved in fighting invasive species and restoring functional ecosystems now, in the wintertime?

A: With the clusters and the new CISMA

Local work days are great opportunities for people to participate and learn. Woody invasive species control efforts are best suited to the winter. People can tap into their

Here's a list of websites to get you started:

This story is a part of a statewide Invasive Species Community Impact Series edited by Nina Ignaczak. Support for this series is provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.