Japanese Hops Study and Control

The Friends of the Platte River have recently been awarded a $45, 050 Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) grant from the Wisconsin DNR for the study and control of the aquatic invasive species—Japanese Hops in the Platte/ Little Platte watershed. The study will include a full-scale survey of the extents of the infestation throughout the Platte and Little Platte watersheds and exploration of eradication and control measures for Japanese Hops.

In August 2009 the Friends of the Platte River sponsored a Project RED (Riverine Early Detectors) training through River Alliance of Wisconsin. Participants learned to identify and catalog aquatic invasive species in the watershed. Through the training, Japanese Hops (Humulus japonicus) was discovered in many locations throughout the watershed.

Japanese Hops, native to Japan and eastern China, was introduced to the United States as an ornamental garden plant and is now found as an invasive species in many regions of the United Sates, including southern and western counties in Wisconsin. They reproduce by wind and water dispersed seeds. They form dense stands in floodplains and along stream banks and lakeshores but can also be found near roadsides and urban lots. Japanese Hops is a fast-growing, herbaceous annual vine. Its leaves are simple, opposite, and palmately divided into 5 lobes. Flowers are greenish and bloom in mid to late summer. Female plants contain oval seeds that remain viable in the soil for three years. Stems can be 8-35 feet in length and are covered with rough hairs. The plant can form a dense, almost solid, stand that outcompetes native vegetation and can displace native riverbank and flood plain vegetation, leading to bank destabilization and increased sedimentation in the streams of the watershed.

River Spirit Exchange Event

Forty students and young professionals from throughout the Midwest and beyond descended on Dickeyville on Tuesday, May 18 to learn about Japanese Hops and to participate in a pulling event. The project was part of a three-day event organized and hosted by the Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students and Scholars, organized in 2006 and registered at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  The participants were involved in a camping and educational excursion in Wisconsin and Iowa to learn about working rivers and the potential of rivers as a cultural catalyst.  In the students’ words, the River Spirit Exchange is a cross-cultural event “to share our knowledge about rivers inherited from our ancestors and to explore new experiences that will connect us for the future.” The Exchange is a charter event for a people-to-people initiative called Rivers as Bridges that links the people of the Yangtze and Mississippi. Students from UW-Platteville and UW Madison participated. Other participants hailed from as far away as Harvard and University of Virginia Law School. About two thirds of the participants are from China and were anxious to learn about American culture, tradition and grassroots organization through this event.

The students were treated to a lunch served at the Dickeyville Community center provided by the Friends of the Platte River with snacks donated by local organic farmer, Darrel Hinderman. Mr. Hinderman also served as a lunch-time speaker, introducing the students to the field of organic farming. The Japanese Hops pulling event took place in the vicinity of Mr. Hinderman's farm south of Dickeyville. Cotton gloves used for the project were donated by Theisen’s in Dubuque.

The event served as a kick-off event for the Friends of the Platte River’s aquatic invasive species project. The invasive species project will also include a full-scale survey of the extents of the infestation throughout the Platte and Little Platte watersheds and exploration of eradication and control measures for Japanese Hops.