Phragmites Information Page
Learn about Phragmites July 24-25
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Phrag Free McGregor Bay Project
Phrag Free McGregor Bay is a project running in 2025 funded by the Ontario Phragmites Action program and supporting funder, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
The project is a collaboration with Whitefish River First Nation Lands and Resources and Georgian Bay Forever.
Why are Invasive Phragmites a Problem?
Invasive phragmites overtake wetland areas which then lead to species decline in all native fish, reptiles, birds and plants that depend on those areas for breeding and nesting. Invasive Phragmites are spreading north on the Georgian Bay shoreline along transportation routes, seeds are blowing in the wind. The uncontrolled spread of invasive phrag would, over time, degrade McGregor Bay biodiversity and greatly reduce the enjoyment of the land for recreation.
Mapping Phragmites in McGregor Bay
The first goal of Phrag Free McGregor Bay is to map all existing invasive phragmites patches in McGregor Bay.
We Need Your Help to Identify Invasive Phragmites Patches
Our goal this summer is to have a comprehensive survey of McGregor Bay that maps all the existing Invasive Phragmites patches. This will be created in the WRFN geospatial software database. There is a team from WRFN lands that will be on the water full time doing the survey, but the amount of shoreline in McGregor Bay is vast. We need your help.
We would like at least one cottager in each area of McGregor Bay to volunteer to organize friends and family and identify suspected patches of Invasive Phragmites and cover the shoreline in their local area. Each leader would be responsible for sending photos and geo-location (what3words or GPS coordinates) to the MBA project lead (me).
What if you cannot ID the Invasive phrag?
Not a problem. All you need to do is pass on photos and location information to the MBA project lead and we will do all the work to identify if it’s invasive phragmites.
WRFN Lands Online Survey
There is now an online survey tool to input photos and text descriptions of unidentified phrag patches. This will input directly into the WRFN database.
Survey123: https://arcg.is/0C9Ojy
If you have information from another app, that’s fine. Also you can send GPS coordinates, what3words and photos to Doug Whitton email (dougwhitton@gmail.com).
Do Not Cut!!!
Once the survey and mapping stage is complete, WRFN lands department will be developing a long-term plan that follows the best practice for each patch. There are several methods to eradicate invasive phragmites and new products and methods emerge each year.
Really, Don’t Cut
Cutting invasive phragmites is tricky because if it’s not done properly, it can actually make the problem worse by releasing more seeds.
If You Really Want To Volunteer To Cut
At a yet to be determined point in the future, when the mapping and surveying is complete, and a plan is in place by WRFN Lands Department, there will be a request for volunteers from the MBA for cottagers that have been trained to cut invasive phragmites.
Respect the Land
McGregor Bay is Whitefish River First Nations Traditional Territory. Keep in mind when you’re out searching for invasive phragmites to be respectful of the land, water, wetlands, breeding grounds, wildlife, and plants.