“Phragmites, being so consumptive of water, has become an easy target for folks who are looking for something concrete to do to help the Great Salt Lake.”
– Marisa Weinberg, Coordinator for the Great Salt Lake Sentinel Landscape
Decades of phragmites research and collaboration are stacking the odds in favor of a win for water and wetlands around the Great Salt Lake.
When Karin Kettenring first arrived at Utah State University in 2008, she fell into the midst of a management crisis similar to one she had just spent years working on in the Chesapeake Bay: the invasive grass phragmites.
Duck hunters, biologists, and other frequenters of wetlands had begun to realize just how dramatically phragmites was changing wetlands around the Great Salt Lake. As a result, a burgeoning effort to control the invasive and restore wetlands was already underway. Kettenring, a professor of Wetland Ecology and Restoration at Utah State University and the region’s foremost expert on phragmites, dove right in.
This Eurasian grass (also called common reed) originally came to North America as packing material for shipped goods. It spread throughout the East Coast and, eventually, made its way west. Kettenring said that the grass was likely around the Great Salt Lake in small amounts prior to the floods of the mid-1980s. Receding waters revealed wetlands left bare of native vegetation—the perfect foundation for phragmites to establish a foothold. From there, it spread rapidly around the area.
One of the reasons that phragmites is such a problem is because of the sheer amount biomass it produces. The grass forms mats that choke out native species, creating a monoculture.
A “marsh master” (right) is one tool managers use to mow down phragmites to reduce the amount of stalks and leaves on the landscape.
“This species thrives on high nutrient levels and poor water quality. It can grow rapidly, create a lot of biomass, and shade everything else out.”
– Dr. Karin Kettenring, Professor of Wetland Ecology and Restoration, Utah State University
Keith Hambrecht, the State Lands Restoration Program Manager for Utah Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, has been coordinating collaborative work on phragmites since 2016. From the outset, he worked to foster clear lines of communication about phragmites management efforts among researchers like Kettenring, state agencies, private land managers, and conservation organizations. Now, he said, it’s finally starting to pay off.
“It took many years, but our work started getting recognized. We were able to say, here are these best practices and this is how they’re being applied and they’re actually working. It just takes some time.”
– Keith Hambrecht, State Lands Restoration Program Manager, Utah Forestry, Fire, and State Lands
One of the key hurdles wetland managers have had to overcome—and are still overcoming because of variable environmental conditions—is consistent management of phragmites. Increased coordination and resource sharing through Hambrecht’s position has helped in this regard, as has an increased awareness about the best practices for controlling the plant.
Mowing, using marsh masters (above), or even grazing phragmites with cattle, is key to reducing the amount of stalks and stems crowding the ground and shading out other plants.
Burning, mowing, or grazing phragmites in the fall or the spring is a proven follow-up to herbicide application. Kettenring said burning is often the most efficient way to get rid of dead phragmites; although it does not kill phragmites, it can be great biomass management along with mowing or grazing. However, many people struggle to obtain permits to burn because of their proximity to urban areas and development.
Kettenring said her research over the past 10+ years underscores the importance of reseeding cleared sites with native species like saltgrass, hardstem bulrush, or alkali bulrush.
On Herbicide Use
Kettenring said for years, her research included trials on methods to get around using herbicides to manage phragmites. But ultimately, the studies showed just how effective herbicide applications can be in beating back perennial plants like phragmites.
“My goal with herbicides is to ensure people are using it as effectively as possible, especially if that’s going to be the tool that is logistically feasible for managers,” she said. “The other alternative is to just leave the phragmites, and I don’t consider that.”
Herbicides are most effectively applied after phragmites stands are mowed and burned, usually in the late summer and early fall when plants are starting to send nutrients down to their roots.
Managing for water and for wildlife
At the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, biologist Jennifer Wright said the management goal is to get phragmites coverage in individual wetland units down to 10 percent or less. To do that takes three to five years of repeated mowing/grazing, burning, and spraying. At that point, there should be reduced amounts of phragmites seeds in the soil. That’s a relatively short amount of time, which Wright said will improve results and promote achieving the refuge’s management goals.
“[Based on recent Utah State University research] phragmites seed stays viable in the soil for 3-5 years, which is fortunate for us. Thank goodness it’s not 10 or 20 years.” — Jennifer Wright
Wright said that the refuge is also working on restoring natural hydrology and topography to places that tend to attract phragmites growth, like borrow areas and ditch edges.
White-faced ibis on a Great Salt Lake-adjacent wetland; the great blue heron rookery at Farmington Bay; and black-necked stilts on a Farmington Bay wetland.
“It’s a grass, it’s like mowing your lawn. Any time you treat it, anytime you cut it or burn it, particularly if you burn it, you have to follow up those treatments otherwise it will just go out of control.”
– Jennifer Wright, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
A swath mowed through a phragmites stand (left) and a stand after a burning treatment.
Stay tuned for Part II of this story in August 2026!
