Coastal wetlands are a difficult terrain for plants to grow, so the ones that do have had to adapt. A freshwater snail in the wetlands.

ALPENA — Michigan coastal wetlands provide homes to many interesting animal and insect species, including the state’s only venomous snake, the eastern massasauga.

The endangered rattlesnake is hard to find, and would rather avoid humans than bite them.

“Coastal wetlands are hugely important to the quality of our Great Lakes,” said Huron Pines Environmental Educator Emily Vogelgesang. “They do the filtration. Everything coming from the inland before it hits the Great Lakes, the wetlands will do as much filtering as they can. Then they provide year-round habitats for our species that are prolifics like turtles and endangered rattlesnakes and piping plovers.”

The wetlands are hugely important to protect, she added.

There are a few main threats that impact the wetlands at this point. General development by humans impacts how the wetlands function, how their water flows.

Invasive species, both plant and animal, also interrupt proper wetland function.

Vogelgesang said the plant and animal species in wetlands are used to a certain amount of sunlight. The invasive woody shrub buckthorn grows and overtakes the wetlands, which diminishes the wetlands’ functions.

The goal of the project Vogelgesang works with addresses the invasive species threat, bolsters filtration systems and provides habitat support. It’s called the Alpena Coastal Wetlands Project. Huron Pines is the lead partner on it and works with the the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, the Nature Conservancy and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. She added that the program is funded by a grant from the Besser Foundation and the Sustain the Great Lakes Program, which is part of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The Foundation announced Monday that the the Sustain Our Great Lakes partners gave $6.6 million in grant funding for 25 ecological restoration projects in the Great Lakes basin.

A statement from the foundation said one of the projects is for Huron Pines to “install a timber bridge structure to restore natural river function, reduce aquatic organism passage-impeding flow velocities and enhance the recreational capacity of the Pigeon River. The project will reconnect 55 upstream miles of aquatic habitat and decrease sediment loading by 0.5 tons.”

The grant funds $225,000 of the effort, with a $225,000 match from the local project. The Pigeon River is part of the Lake huron watershed.

“We are thrilled to make these 25 awards. It’s an exciting slate of projects and this year we’re making sure to invest in Great Lakes states,” said Great Lakes National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Program Director Aislinn Gauchay.

Vogelgesang said all the work they do is partnership-based and they can’t work in silos.

HOME TO UNIQUE

ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Squaw Bay is a coastal wetland about a mile south of Alpena on U.S.-23 and is owned by the Nature Conservancy.

The wetland is home to turtles and the eastern massasauga, Vogelgesang said. She added Michigan coastal wetlands are home to 80 fish species that spend a part of their life in coastal wetlands.

They are also home to unique flora as well, like the pitcher plant.

“Wetlands are super inhospitable places to live,” Vogelgesang said. “The soils are not our nice, rich soil. They’re pretty tough because of the bedrock. Most of our coastal wetlands are on limestone, so it’s a calcium-heavy environment. So it’s not hospitable. That’s why wetlands stay spare. Most of the plants, they’ve evolved to provide nutrients for themselves.”

The plant is has a large cup and at the bottom of the cup is acid. When any insects fly into the cup, they touch the acid and start to drown.

To help the turtles, Vogelgesang said basking logs are placed to help provide a space for the turtles to rest and sun themselves.

“We anchor them in with a cable system to make it a semi-permanent structure,” she said. “The biggest hurdle is we built (U.S.-)23, which is good for human use and transportation and economics, but we disrupted the flow of the water and how animals move, in particular with the turtles.”

The recommendation for people to help turtles safely cross the road is to pull over (if it’s safe) and help them move in the direction in which they were headed.

Skimming across the water, many species of dragonflies can be found in wetlands.

“A lot of our dragonflies like the Hine’s emerald dragonfly — which is a threatened species — can be found here,” Vogelgesang said. “That is one that is sensitive to the glossy buckthorn. They need the bright sun to trigger their biological mechanisms and so, when the woody shrubs come in, it blocks out all of that.”

Vogelgesang said the coolest part about wetlands, to her, are that “they’re one of the most diverse ecosystems for wildlife and plantlife,” she said.

Huron Pines also provides brush piles in the water for larger mammals to rest on while they migrate. They also have placed large boards that are attached to the land for the snakes to safely hide under. She said these boards will stay in the wetlands until October, when the snakes enter their hibernation season.

“It’s hard sometimes, because people wonder why are putting piles of sticks in here,” she said. “Those decisions are made thoughtfully and with a lot of review.”

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Vogelgesang spends a lot her time developing programs, meeting with teachers and students, and she loves it.

“Being with students and adults outside and seeing things through their eyes,” she said. “I live and work in this world, so this is gorgeous and I love it, but it’s everyday for me. When you’re outdoors and with students or adults, you get new perspective or sharper eyes.

She added that “Michigan is leading the country in conservation efforts. Invasive species management and conservation funding and (Michigan) is setting the model for the rest of the country.”

It’s exciting work to be a part of, she said.

“It’s great to be in a place where everyone values this,” she said. “So we have to teach them how to take care of it. It’s about shifting the mindset. It’s easy in a protected place like this, but the reality is, most of our land is in private ownership. It’s up to the landowners to put practices in place and balancing the human needs and the habitat needs.”

Jordan Spence can be reached at

jspence@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5687.