LANSING, MI – Invasive species will get less attention across Michigan in the coming year after cuts made to the state budget.

Lawmakers sliced about $1.2 million from the Michigan invasive species grant program for 2026, cutting the annual funding by a third from $3.6 million to $2.4 million. Environmental experts said, however, that the complex problems caused by invasive species haven’t diminished.

“While we’re very happy we didn’t lose any staff,” said Joanne Foreman, spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources, “losing that … boots on the ground funding at some level is going to mean less gets done. That’s just the bottom line.”

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the budget last month after a funding fight with the Republican-controlled House and Senate, including the threat of a state government shutdown. A prior House Republican proposal would have slashed the DNR budget by 10% and resulted in 430 lost jobs.

State officials said core funding for Michigan’s system of multi-county cooperative invasive species management areas (CISMAs) will be maintained in the approved budget. However, the pool of money for special projects is evaporating.

Michigan has a network of 22 CISMAs that serve all 83 counties. Each of the organizations receives an annual $70,000 in base program funding for invasive species prevention, detection and control activities; that money keeps the basic programs intact.

Beyond that, the co-ops apply for extra grant dollars for special projects. They compete for funding against other entities, like nonprofits, universities, and local, state, federal and tribal governments.

The state program receives more than $7 million in grant requests each year, Foreman said.

“There are so many cool projects out there, but we can only fund this many of them, and that’s always hard every year. And then to be like, we’re funding even less of them is crazy,” she said.

Michigan has faced catastrophic environmental harm from long-running battles with invasive species, like quagga and zebra mussels disrupting ecosystems and wrecking Great Lakes whitefish populations.

Meanwhile, recent years brought new and problematic invasive species to Michigan’s natural areas, such as lesser celandine. That’s a spring ephemeral flower that pops up along hiking trails and blankets low-lying floodplain forests with thick mats of greenery and little yellow blooms. It crowds out native spring wildflowers like trillium and orchids.

The threat of even more invasive species harming Michigan’s environment remains ever-present, Foreman said.

“We’re looking at spotted lanternfly just like becoming a huge nuisance in the East Coast all the way over now to Michigan,” Foreman said.

Related: Ice storm not forgotten in Michigan’s state budget. But will $14M be enough?

Field experts in the fight against invasive species across Michigan also bemoaned the lost state funding for the work.

Melissa Zelenek, of the Charlevoix Antrim Kalkaska Emmet CISMA, said it’s good that invasive species core program funding was maintained, but it will be challenging for some co-ops to do any extra projects.

“Invasive species is the last thing that should be cut,” she said. “But if the state is going to cut services, I hope somehow they are going to support private landowners with at least some education on how to manage them.”

The Jackson Lenawee Washtenaw CISMA in Southeast Michigan posted on social media to announce the “bad news” about the reduced state funding.

“This means a likely reduction in services that we can provide. We are heartbroken to hear this,” the post read. “It is hard to not take it a bit personally as many of us put our heart and soul in working to protect (the) natural resources that Michiganders are proud of.”

Last month, state officials announced the grant application process with the anticipated larger bank of money, a timeline that allows for grant dollars to be awarded by the following March.

Grant requests for this next cycle of competitive funding are due by Nov. 1. General invasive species project requests can range from $25,000 to $400,000.

LANSING, MI – Invasive species will get less attention across Michigan in the coming year after cuts made to the state budget.

Lawmakers sliced about $1.2 million from the Michigan invasive species grant program for 2026, cutting the annual funding by a third from $3.6 million to $2.4 million. Environmental experts said, however, that the complex problems caused by invasive species haven’t diminished.

“While we’re very happy we didn’t lose any staff,” said Joanne Foreman, spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources, “losing that … boots on the ground funding at some level is going to mean less gets done. That’s just the bottom line.”

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the budget last month after a funding fight with the Republican-controlled House and Senate, including the threat of a state government shutdown. A prior House Republican proposal would have slashed the DNR budget by 10% and resulted in 430 lost jobs.

State officials said core funding for Michigan’s system of multi-county cooperative invasive species management areas (CISMAs) will be maintained in the approved budget. However, the pool of money for special projects is evaporating.

Michigan has a network of 22 CISMAs that serve all 83 counties. Each of the organizations receives an annual $70,000 in base program funding for invasive species prevention, detection and control activities; that money keeps the basic programs intact.

Beyond that, the co-ops apply for extra grant dollars for special projects. They compete for funding against other entities, like nonprofits, universities, and local, state, federal and tribal governments.

The state program receives more than $7 million in grant requests each year, Foreman said.

“There are so many cool projects out there, but we can only fund this many of them, and that’s always hard every year. And then to be like, we’re funding even less of them is crazy,” she said.

Michigan has faced catastrophic environmental harm from long-running battles with invasive species, like quagga and zebra mussels disrupting ecosystems and wrecking Great Lakes whitefish populations.

Meanwhile, recent years brought new and problematic invasive species to Michigan’s natural areas, such as lesser celandine. That’s a spring ephemeral flower that pops up along hiking trails and blankets low-lying floodplain forests with thick mats of greenery and little yellow blooms. It crowds out native spring wildflowers like trillium and orchids.

The threat of even more invasive species harming Michigan’s environment remains ever-present, Foreman said.

“We’re looking at spotted lanternfly just like becoming a huge nuisance in the East Coast all the way over now to Michigan,” Foreman said.

Related: Ice storm not forgotten in Michigan’s state budget. But will $14M be enough?

Field experts in the fight against invasive species across Michigan also bemoaned the lost state funding for the work.

Melissa Zelenek, of the Charlevoix Antrim Kalkaska Emmet CISMA, said it’s good that invasive species core program funding was maintained, but it will be challenging for some co-ops to do any extra projects.

“Invasive species is the last thing that should be cut,” she said. “But if the state is going to cut services, I hope somehow they are going to support private landowners with at least some education on how to manage them.”

The Jackson Lenawee Washtenaw CISMA in Southeast Michigan posted on social media to announce the “bad news” about the reduced state funding.

“This means a likely reduction in services that we can provide. We are heartbroken to hear this,” the post read. “It is hard to not take it a bit personally as many of us put our heart and soul in working to protect (the) natural resources that Michiganders are proud of.”

Last month, state officials announced the grant application process with the anticipated larger bank of money, a timeline that allows for grant dollars to be awarded by the following March.

Grant requests for this next cycle of competitive funding are due by Nov. 1. General invasive species project requests can range from $25,000 to $400,000.