GROSSE ILE, Mich., Oct. 16 Some Michigan lakeshore residents just see ugly as they watch the beautiful American lotus spread across the water and interfere with boating and fishing.
Neighbors along Hickory Island's waterfront near Grosse Ile, Mich., said a lotus bed is getting out of control, expanding enough to affect fishing and boating -- and driving down property values, the Detroit Free Press reported.
However, Bruce Jones, a founder and board member of the Grosse Ile Nature Conservancy, sees the plants as a sign the water is clean enough to host them.
The American lotus is a threatened Michigan native, Todd Hogrefe, endangered species coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources, told the Free Press. The only places the lotus grows are around Monroe, at the Lake Erie Metropark and Grosse Ile.
Jones said the lotus bed was first spotted in 1999, when it was small and consisted of a few plants.
Homeowner Tom Zimmerman said it now covers nearly 10 acres.
Hogrefe said he can't find evidence the seeds were planted, which would allow landowners to remove the lotus.
"We are giving the plant the benefit of the doubt," he told the Free Press.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
