FUTURE PROJECT · EXPLORING
Invasive Cattail Monitoring & Removal
A possible next chapter of watershed stewardship — protecting our wetlands from invasive hybrid and narrow-leaf cattail.
Native broad-leaf cattail (Typha latifolia) is an important wetland plant across the Long Lake Creek Watershed. But invasive narrow-leaf cattail (Typha angustifolia) and its aggressive hybrid (Typha × glauca) are increasingly crowding out native vegetation, reducing plant diversity, degrading wildlife habitat, and choking off the open water and marsh edges that make our wetlands work.
Why it Matters
Dense monocultures of invasive cattail alter how water moves through wetlands, trap sediment in ways that change nutrient cycling, and reduce nesting habitat for marsh birds. In a watershed like ours — where wetlands act as the filters and sponges for everything flowing into Long Lake — a healthier cattail community means cleaner water downstream.
Wetlands are the kidneys of the watershed. What grows there shapes what reaches the lake.
— LLWA Board
Working with the MN Cattail Collective
LLWA is in early conversations with the Minnesota Cattail Collective — a coalition of researchers, land managers, and community groups working on invasive cattail identification, mapping, and removal methods. If we move forward, we'd follow their science-based protocols and pair the effort with the same partners who make our other projects possible: the MCWD and the cities of Long Lake, Orono, and Medina.
What a Project Could Look Like
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Mapping and baseline monitoring of cattail stands around Long Lake and its connecting wetlands
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Identifying priority sites where removal would most benefit water quality and habitat
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Piloting removal techniques appropriate to each site (mechanical, targeted treatment, or a combination)
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Training community volunteers to identify native vs. invasive cattail
Where things stand
Want to attend the next session?
Training is free for LLWA members and open to the community. Dates are announced in the newsletter.
Interested
If you have expertise in wetland ecology, cattail management, or you'd simply like to help scout sites around the watershed, reach out. This is exactly the kind of project that starts with a few interested neighbors.
Potential partners: MN Cattail Collective, MCWD, and the cities of Long Lake, Orono, and Medina.