By John Francis
Most of us are aware of at least a few invasive species — invasive phragmites is unmistakable. Wild Parsnip forms a one-and-a-half-metre-tall wall on both sides of some roads in the Ferndale Flats/Lindsay Flats area. And many of us are conducting a personal war with Garlic Mustard and other invaders in our backyards.
But this year’s Sources of Knowledge Forum gave us an eye-opening view of the sheer volume and diversity of current and incoming threats.
Georgian Bay and Lake Huron have been irrevocably changed by Sea Lampreys, Zebra Mussels and Quagga Mussels. There are also invasive water plants spreading northwards and three species of invasive Asian carps on our doorstep.
On land, the biggest single threat is probably invasive phragmites, which already chokes many square kilometres of Southern Ontario wetlands and is poised to dramatically extend its grasp.
But there are dozens more invasive species — some already here, others spreading towards us.
The final presenter at SOKF was Spencer Bennett, who has, in recent years, been managing the invasive species control initiative at our two national parks.
He stated that Parks personnel spent 599 hours on land-based invasive plants last year. They were engaged in managing 22 different invasive species over a total of 86 different sites.
Bennett is justifiably proud of what Parks Canada has accomplished — maintaining the parks as a refugium where native species can thrive.
Unfortunately, the rest of our municipality is left to fend for itself, other than some roadside weed spraying by Bruce County and the province.
Our Own Environment Office?
I remember a conversation I had fifteen or twenty years ago with one of Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association’s (BPBA) bright-eyed visionaries. She told me that her ambition was to persuade the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula to inaugurate and staff its own environmental office.
“What would they do?” I asked.
She rhymed off a laundry list of things that needed to be done, including: wastewater monitoring on land and in streams; invasive species monitoring and management, including plants, insects and aquatic flora and fauna; wetland and habitat conservation and management; implementation of solar-powered cattle watering systems to keep cattle from contaminating our streams.
BPBA has been unsuccessful in getting the municipality to take on these responsibilities but they have accomplished a couple of them all by themselves.
Some cattle watering systems actually got done — BPBA designed the systems and then installed a number of them, aided by provincial funding.
BPBA’s Six Streams project is monitoring the water quality in the most important watersheds in the municipality.
BPBA has also been working with Nature Conservancy of Canada to try to control phragmites, but it’s a huge undertaking. Fully engaging with phragmites would require significant manpower and budget — a municipal or county initiative — as would responding to the other species and issues that are creeping up on us.
For example: invasive Emerald Ash Borer is systematically killing all our ash trees, much like Dutch Elm disease killed all the elms seventy years ago. On the horizon: our beech trees are being hit hard by two separate pests: Beech Leaf Disease and Beech Bark Disease. Dead ash and beech trees will become quite hazardous in our municipality over the next few years. Whose responsiblity ought they to be?
Bruce County to the Rescue?
Bruce County recently published its Environmental Sustainability Action Plan 2026-2030. The plan has sections entitled “Climate Adaptation and Mitigation” and “Stewardship and Forest Conservation”, but the phrase “invasive species” is never even mentioned.
Somehow, I don’t think the county will come galloping to our rescue.
