CADILLAC — The North Country Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area organization reported a record year in 2025 for outreach, monitoring and invasive species treatment across its service region, which includes Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford counties.
In its 2025 Annual Report, the organization reported strong public engagement alongside expanded treatment and survey efforts addressing terrestrial and aquatic invasive species throughout the region.
Staff conducted 37 presentations for public officials and property owners and engaged more than 2,000 children through school and partner events focused on invasive species pathways, impacts and prevention.
Outreach efforts also included conversations with more than 1,100 adults about boat and wader decontamination and 16 shoreline events such as Great Lakes Aquatic Invasive Species Landing Blitzes and Troutreach programming.
In total, the organization reported 11,635 face-to-face outreach impressions and 281,640 passive impressions through media and social channels.
Conservation efforts
Invasive species control work covered hundreds of acres in 2025. Grant-funded treatments addressed 354 acres across 175 sites while the group’s Strike Team for Hire program treated 269.5 acres across 159 sites for landowners and agencies.
Monitoring efforts also continued across previously treated areas. Staff checked 45 sites covering 32.5 acres where invasive species had been treated in prior years and found no regrowth. Detection surveys for terrestrial and aquatic invasive species covered 324 acres.
Several species management efforts were highlighted during the year. Black swallowwort was a major focus, with 176 acres surveyed along the Pine River and nearby roadsides. Staff identified five new sites in the region and three in Isabella County and treated 65 acres during early and late summer control rounds designed to prevent seed production.
Work targeting wild parsnip continued through local partnerships after state grant funding was not awarded in 2025. Treatments in Osceola County focused on mature plants and rosettes during the spring and fall to prevent seed production.
In Wexford County, crews visited 61 sites containing roadside phragmites and Japanese knotweed. Fourteen knotweed sites were determined to be eradicated while 15 required retreatment. Among phragmites sites, 17 were treated and 15 were confirmed eradicated from previous work.
Aquatic monitoring also addressed European frogbit, which has only been documented in the region in the Lincoln River in Mason County. Although funding gaps affected work in 2025, partners continued early and late summer control efforts.
The organization also collaborated with the Michigan Department of Transportation on invasive species work funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and administered by the U.S. Forest Service. The effort targets infestations that extend beyond state highway rights-of-way onto adjacent private property to help reduce reinfestation.
Research and monitoring also focused on balsam woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that attacks fir trees. NCCISMA began working with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the fall of 2025 to address infestations. The report noted there is currently no proven insecticide treatment, so management focuses on physical removal and containment to slow the spread.
The group also supported Michigan State University research led by Professor Deb McCullough by assisting with adelgid counts, bark sampling and connecting researchers with landowners.
Local partnerships
Local partnerships were also highlighted, including a long-running effort with the City of Ludington Department of Public Works. In 2025, the partnership addressed 22 Japanese knotweed infestations and hosted a treatment workshop for landowners.
The organization also launched a shrub replacement project funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and administered by the U.S. Forest Service. The effort removes ornamental invasive shrubs such as Japanese barberry and replaces them with native species at several sites, including the Big Rapids Department of Public Safety.
New funding partners in 2025 included TC Energy, which supported wild parsnip management, the Lake County Community Foundation, which funded aquatic invasive outreach targeting trout and salmon anglers and the Ice Mountain Environmental Stewardship Fund, which supported native plantings at former treatment sites.
The report also highlighted public engagement through its “Ride, Clean, Repeat” campaign aimed at off-road vehicle riders. The program included a Fun Run in August 2025 with 50 registered riders and 114 total participants. Staff also connected with nearly 2,500 riders at 13 off-road vehicle rides and blessings and reached 598 riders during an ORV Blitz that included nine stops.
Looking ahead to 2026
NCCISMA plans to continue its shrub replacement program and evaluate about 20 potential sites nominated by the public. The organization is also planning a native seed collection project supported through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
Additional restoration efforts will include native plantings at nine sites along the Muskegon River and its tributaries, including Hemlock Park in Big Rapids, Riverside East Park in Evart and Kenwood Park in Cadillac.
The organization will also serve as a hub for the Go Beyond Beauty program, which encourages the replacement of invasive ornamental plants with non-invasive alternatives. NCCISMA’s annual meeting is scheduled for Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the U.S. Forest Service Office in Baldwin.
For more information on the North Country Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area organization, click here.