EATON CONSERVATION DISTRICT

ready, set, crimp!

Roller crimping is a great way to terminate your cover crop without applying herbicide or using tillage! It's the perfect tool for creating a green mat of weed suppression that you can plant right into. Do we have your attention yet? Good! If this sounds like something you might be interested in using next spring, click the button below to take our survey! Your answers will be helpful in securing the above crimper to rent out next year, as well as help us plan for our annual fall field day!

Crimper survey

annual photo contest - show us your best
eaton co. natural resource pics!

It's that time of year again: time for our annual photo contest! Every year, we are thrilled to see the beauty of Eaton County through your camera lenses! Contest entry form and rules can be found on our website, or by clicking below! Please note: entry deadline is Thursday, November 19th and the picture MUST be natural resource themed in nature. Go here for a photo contest entry form.

Invasive species injectors available for rent in Mid-Michigan counties

The Mid-Michigan Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) has invasive species injectors available to local landowners in Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, and Ionia counties. These injectors are useful for local residents to treat small infestations of invasive Japanese, giant, and Bohemian knotweeds and are best used when knotweed is in bloom - August into September. These plants are prepping for winter and are beginning to pull any extra nutrients down into their roots. So if we inject the plant with herbicide, it will pull the chemicals into the roots, and have a much higher success rate! Each stalk on the invasive should be injected to ensure the roots get a heavy dose of herbicide. Through this injector rental program, the Mid-Michigan CISMA hopes to empower local citizens in invasive species management.

Invasive species injection system
The injectors will be available for four-day rental sessions with a refundable $50 deposit and staff will train you how to use the injection system. Please note, you will need to provide your own herbicide, but we can offer suggestions on what to get. For more information, check out the rental contract and/or give any of the Mid-Michigan District's below a call to learn more and to reserve your dates:

Clinton Conservation District: 989-224-3720 ext. 3
Eaton Conservation District: 517-543-1512 ext. 5
Ingham Conservation District: 517-676-2290
Ionia Conservation District: 616-527-2098

The Mid-Michigan CISMA is funded in part by the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program
(www.michigan.gov/invasives).

homeowners: Help keep storm drains clear of debris and litter

A storm drain is usually a network of underground pipes designed to control flooding by transporting stormwater from urban areas to a waterbody. A storm drain may also be known as a curb, gutter, channel, ditch, pipe or culvert.

Many people assume that these drains or gutters flow into “treatment” facilities. In reality, storm drains flow directly into rivers, lakes, streams, sounds, or oceans. Even if you’re not directly dumping anything into a storm drain, non-point source pollution can occur. Rainwater washes soil, street litter, oil, leaves, grass clippings, pet wastes and fertilizers into storm drains. Material flowing into storm drains does not get treated before emptying into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. This untreated material can pollute the waterways in your community. Although individual storm drains may contribute small amounts of pollutants the combination of many storm drains can cause a negative impact on water quality.

It is especially important in the fall to rake your leaves and bag them up or mulch them if you live in an urban/suburban area as rainwater can wash leaves into storm drains. This is harmful because research has shown that leaves absorb motor oil. When these oil soaked leaves make their way into our drains they are going directly into our waterways. Nearly 50% of Americans get their drinking water from surface water so it is important we do our best to protect our rivers, lakes and streams.