The goal is to prevent or reduce the spread of these invasive species known to harm Michigan ecosystems, officials said.<\/p>\n
If the measure is approved by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development during its March meeting, landscapers and plant nurseries would be warned for a first offense in the initial year of regulation. Businesses would be allowed a period to come into compliance, but subsequent violations could bring fines.<\/p>\n
People who unknowingly have these invasive species on their property or in their waterways won\u2019t face penalties.<\/p>\n
From among the six invasive plant species under consideration for new restrictions, Japanese barberry has spread the most across the Michigan landscape. Maps of the outbreaks of each species<\/a> can be viewed online with the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network.<\/p>\n One conservation expert said he\u2019s been battling heavy Japanese barberry infestations in natural areas in Manistee County. It\u2019s spreading extremely aggressively, said Josh Shields, forester and wildlife biologist with Manistee and Mason-Lake Conservation Districts.<\/p>\n \u201cTypically, you can find in nearby areas where it has been purposely planted in neighborhoods, because Japanese barberry is available in a lot of stores for purchase. It\u2019s a popular ornamental plant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times there are areas near where these really heavy invasions are where you can pretty confidently trace the invasion back to these plantings.\u201d<\/p>\n Shields said he works with landowners who have infestations so thick they can\u2019t walk through the area. They work to pull out what they can by hand, then use machinery and herbicide to knock down the overgrowth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way that it displaces native plants in areas where it invades, it reduces the biological diversity down to the point that this is not a very resilient habitat,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving a monoculture of barberry underneath a forest canopy is not set up to be a functioning, resilient ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Invasive jumping worms pose growing threat to Michigan\u2019s ecosystems<\/a><\/p>\n And Shields isn\u2019t alone. There is a widespread network of government and conservation officials working to remove Japanese barberry and the other five targeted invasive species from both natural and landscaped areas.<\/p>\n In Traverse City, city officials are already working to remove invasive callery pear trees which for years have been growing alongside downtown streets.<\/p>\n City Manager Ben Marentette said each year the city\u2019s forester chooses between 10 and 20 callery pear trees to be removed from their streetside spots, based on tree age, condition, vandalism and accidents. He said each invasive tree is then replaced with either native serviceberry, native hackberry, or ivory silk trees which are native to Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is our forester\u2019s professional opinion, which I support, that a mass removal of these downtown trees would decimate a mature tree canopy and would take many years to recover from, hence the staggered approach,\u201d Marentette said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, members of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association haven\u2019t discussed the state\u2019s proposal and therefore haven\u2019t reached a formal position, according to a group spokesperson.<\/p>\n \u2018Let this gateway be green\u2019: Kalamazoo blocks commercial development near Asylum Lake<\/a>Jan. 27, 2026, 7:40a.m.New sea lamprey barrier proposed in the Upper Peninsula <\/a>Jan. 27, 2026, 6:00a.m.Public outcry continues over Microsoft\u2019s proposed Kent County data center<\/a>Jan. 26, 2026, 10:32p.m.Grand River rapids restoration project clears federal environmental review<\/a>Jan. 26, 2026, 2:44p.m.When Lake Michigan freezes, even its lighthouses grow beards<\/a>Jan. 25, 2026, 4:21p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LANSING, Mich. \u2013 Michiganders have fewer than two weeks to submit their comments about the state\u2019s proposal to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-435095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"File](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/VLTJUXIOYFEPZPBB6XIPUQCUYQ.JPG\")
This MLive file photo shows invasive Japanese barberry bushes for sale. The plant is not regulated in Michigan, though they are in multiple neighboring states. (Sheri McWhirter | MLive.com)<\/p>\n