Grant would fuel county’s war on invasive species

Ozaukee County supervisors recently voted to apply for and accept a $200,000 grant to continue work to eradicate invasive species from 14 county parks and natural habitat areas.

“It would be the third largest grant we’ve received over the last seven years and a replication of what we’ve been working on for more than three years,” county Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck told members of the Natural Resources Committee earlier this month.

“This has been a huge benefit to the parks overall,” he said.

The grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation would be used to help eradicate invasive plants from up to 250 acres in county parks and habitat restoration areas.

Those areas include Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve County Park, Covered Bridge County Park, Ehlers County Park, Harborview County Park, Hawthorne Hills County Park, Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve, River Oaks County Park, Tendick Nature County Park, Waubedonia County Park, and the Ulao Creek Nature Preserve County Park. 

The funds would specifically be used to pay for private contractors and conservation group personnel, Struck said.

Matching funds for the project would come from private donations, in-kind county staff time and $96,500 from county golf course revenue for a total project cost of $316,500.

The county also has received a separate $17,264 grant from the U.S. Forest Services to manage invasive species in the Ulao Creek Nature Preserve, a wetland area south of Ulao Road and east of Gateway Drive in the Town of Grafton.

The county matching funds, totaling $2,300, will be met with volunteer and county staff time, Struck said.