National Park prepares Invasive Plant Management Plan

From staff reports

The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Plan (IPMP) for the following 10 parks located in the Great Lakes region: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS), Grand Portage National Monument (GRPO), Ice Age National Scenic Trail (IATR), Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (INDU), Isle Royale National Park (ISRO), Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS), Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PIRO), Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SLBE), St. Croix National Scenic River (SACN) and Voyageurs National Park (VOYA).

Proposed treatment measures identified in the Great Lakes IPMP/EA are based on sound integrated pest management. Integrated pest management is defined as a decision-making process that coordinates knowledge of pest biology, the environment, and available technology to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage, by cost-effective means, while posing the least possible risk to people and park resources. Integrated pest management can also include reducing the risk of new introductions, determining acceptable levels of infestation, use of multiple techniques for control, and continued monitoring and management.

When completed, this Great Lakes IPMP/EA would provide strategies for park staff to manage terrestrial and emergent wetland invasive plants on both NPS and NPS managed lands within the designated boundaries of the ten Great Lakes parks. Another primary goal of the IPMP/EA is to serve as a programmatic NEPA document for invasive plant management within each of the 10 parks. That is, future invasive plant activities addressed by this EA would not require additional analysis under NEPA for park-specific actions, so long as the impacts of these specific actions have been adequately addressed in the Great Lakes IPMP/EA.

Public Comment Opportunities
The Great Lakes IPMP/EA is now available for public review and comment. Please visit the NPS website at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea to retrieve the EA, or view a hardcopy at any of the ten Great Lakes parks headquarters.

Comments should be submitted electronically using the “Open for Comment” link at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea. Alternatively, comments may also be mailed to: Great Lakes IPMP, c/o Kleinfelder, 300 E. Mineral Avenue, Suite 7, Littleton, CO 80122-2655. Comments must be received by, time-stamped, and/or post-marked by May 15, 5 p.m. eastern standard time (EST).

For more information, please visit the project website at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea or contact Carmen Chapin at (715) 682-0631 ext. 230.

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