It may be one of the prettiest weeds around but it’s also one of the deadliest to its surrounding habitat–and that has La Vallee looking at what it can do to keep purple loosestrife from spreading further.
In fact, the township may introduce “exotic” beetles next summer as a way to biologically control the invasive weed.
“To me, it appears to be the best option at this time,” Reeve Ken McKinnon said yesterday. But he also noted the issue still needed to be discussed further, including if ratepayers would object and who was going to pay for the beetles (which cost 50 cents apiece).
Reeve McKinnon said the first step may be to pass a bylaw declaring purple loosestrife a noxious weed. Once that’s done, a plan would have to be put in place to control it, with residents being responsible for controlling it on their own land.
Purple loosestrife is an aggressive perennial that spreads over the habitat, eventually choking out all other natural vegetation and wildlife.
The area of biggest concern in Devlin is along School Road, south of Highway 11/71, where six-foot plants can be found on both private and public land. That patch probably has doubled since it was first reported in 1993, noted local Ministry of Natural Resources biologist John Vandenbroeck.
Vandenbroeck stressed it wasn’t at a crisis situation yet. Instead, he said it is a concern and one the township is taking a proactive role on.
La Vallee council held a public meeting July 20 to discuss what options there were to control purple loosestrife but only one ratepayer turned out. And Reeve McKinnon admitted he was disappointed with the lack of interest.
“It’s rather unfortunate. I don’t think the people out there realize the [hazard] of this weed,” he said. “It’s too bad the people weren’t there because they could’ve got all the answers from the experts.”
At that meeting, Brian Jackson, a biologist with the MNR’s office in Atikokan, outlined steps taken there to introduce the beetles early last month.
In a joint effort with Ontario Hydro, the MNR released 6,000 larvae onto loosestrife plants on the edge of a lake some 40 feet from the main patch, which extends about 100 feet.
The goal is for the beetles to eat–and procreate–their way to the main patch. It’s too early to tell if they’re putting a dent in the patch but Jackson noted everything was so far, so good.
“They won’t travel as long as they’ve got food. [And] they recommend that you release 2,000,” Jackson noted Monday, adding they were able to get the other 4,000 beetles free.
“There’s a standard monitoring process,” he said, and suspected they wouldn’t see the patch trimmed down for about three years. “To be honest, though, that’s a guess.”
But the loosestrife isn’t isolated to School Road in La Vallee. Reeve McKinnon found another plant while he was working in a field this week, and Vandenbroeck noted a Devlin resident north of the highway was finding loosestrife on his property.
And while Atikokan and La Vallee contain dense patches, purple loosestrife certainly isn’t isolated to those areas. Other sightings have been reported throughout the district–including Seine River, Rice Bay, and Fort Frances.
Plants have been found on Eighth Street, Fifth Street West, and the mill woodyard in town, as well as in a few gardens.
“There are sporadic plants that have been identified through town,” Vandenbroeck explained, adding the ministry has removed plants from people’s gardens here as early as 1995.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
