The Natural Resources Conservation Service has contacted Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission Chairman John Rockwell, offering an opportunity to apply for grant money to assist in phragmite removal at the Grassi Bog property as part of the Grassi Bog Restoration Grant.
Rockwell said on January 5 that the NRCS would provide a grant to fully fund a phragmite control contract at the conservation property managed by MOSAC.
Rockwell brought the matter up to fellow MOSAC members, who encouraged Rockwell to pursue the grant funds.
“Hey, it’s free money,” said Rockwell. He estimated that there is roughly a 3,000 to 4,000 square-foot area of phragmites at Grassi Bog.
“It’s getting bigger every year,” said MOSAC member Alan Harris.
The NRCS will pay for the contract, which would entail the manual application of pesticides to each individual phragmite, once a year for three years. The best part about the nature of this particular grant, said Rockwell, is that once the commission selects a contractor, the NRCS can be billed directly.
“We (MOSAC) wouldn’t even have to pass through any money,” Rockwell said.
Rockwell said in a follow-up email on January 6 that the invasive problem at Grassi Bog “isn’t that bad, as of yet,” but the Town would not have to match any of the funding should it be officially granted to the town.
No specified amount has yet been stated.
The next meeting of the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission is scheduled for January 19 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Recreation building at 13 Atlantis Drive.
By Jean Perry