The US Forest Service is partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and American Transmission Company (ATC) to transplant individual dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) and Houghton’s goldenrod (Solidago houghtonii) plants from ATC property to suitable inland wetland habitats on National Forest System lands.
In general, both species are threatened by rising water levels and habitat loss on the coastal shoreline of Lakes Huron and Michigan. The individual plants in this project would have been displaced by an upcoming ATC fiber optic cable installation project, but instead will have a new home on the Hiawatha National Forest.
“We’re excited to assist in the transplant project by establishing experimental populations on Hiawatha National Forest,” said Paul Thompson, terrestrial ecologist on the national forest. Providing a home for displaced plants will also enhance the species’ viability on the national forest by increasing genetic diversity among existing populations, he added.
How did this effort come to be? The proposal originated from a proposed ATC fiber optic cable project designed to improve communication technology in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. USFWS biologist Carrie Tansy and ATC officials recognized that the project would disturb about eight acres, including sites occupied by both dwarf lake iris and Houghton’s goldenrod. So the parties approached the US Forest Service with a proposal to move about 50 plants from ATC lands along Lake Michigan onto national forest lands.
Hiawatha National Forest staff including Thompson, District Ranger Robert West, NEPA Planner Lyn Hyslop, and Botanist Robert Liebermann supported the assisted migration from the construction site. They identified suitable sites in a Research Natural Area (RNA) with intercoastal wetlands, where the relocated plants will be tended and monitored for health.
“The assisted migration provides a unique opportunity to establish experimental populations of two federally threatened species on public lands, at a time when our existing populations are also imperiled by rising water levels on the Great Lakes,” said Thompson. He noted that the RNA area has suitable habitat conditions, is near the original location of these plants, and provides a measure of protection away from other management activities.
For more information about dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) and Houghton’s goldenrod (Solidago houghtonii), visit the US Fish and Wildlife Service links in this sentence. To learn more about how Hiawatha National Forest “cares for the land and serves people,” visit our webpage (https://www.usda.gov/hiawatha) or follow us on social media (Twitter and Facebook) by searching @HiawathaNF.
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