Marshall Lions Club - Environmental Council Grant Report
Marshall’s Lions Park Shoreline Restoration Project with Native Plantings - 2012
What Occurred and the Impact:
With the financial support of the Environmental Council the Marshall Lions Club was able
to plant native plantings along approximately 400 feet of park shoreline plus an additional
350 feet of park land bordering the northern property line. This was done using 1,300 native
plugs, native plant seeds to the mulched areas using approximately 30 yards of mulch.
The project included a mixture of native flowers, existing trees, grasses and other native plants
to Wisconsin.
Benefit to the Public:
The benefits of the native shoreline plantings are to help stabilize the
shoreline of the Maunesha River, prevent erosion, remove pollutants from run off, and add food and
shelter for dragonflies, butterflies, frogs, birds, fish and other wildlife. The plantings will also
help educate the public and the actual participants to the project of the importance of native
plantings near waterways for habitat restoration.
The Marshall Lions Club is greatly appreciative to the Environmental Council for its support of this
project. We believe that this type of collaboration is necessary in the pursuit of facilitating
experiences for everyone in our natural world.The Lions Club installed a rowboat sand station for
children to play in which allows children to interact with and learn about the native plantings.
The Club is also scheduled to install an outdoor elliptical station in that same area.
We also installed a floating dock, made by EZ Dock that is ADA assessable to accommodate anglers,
visitors, and canoe and kayak enthusiasts with a launch pad from the dock. The launch pad has
made a safe and easy location for boaters to access the Maunesha River, the park and the downtown
area of Marshall. The native plantings surround the access to the dock.
An Educational Sign was installed in our rain garden which describes the importance of rain gardens
to the ecosystem. An Eagle Scout project that constructed bird and bat houses was installed on
October 21, 2012, amongst the native plantings to encourage a more natural setting to the park area.
On September 18, 2012, the local Girl Scouts spent time in the Lions Park learning about all of the
different types of native plantings and how they play a role in our environment. The Girl Scouts
then helped to weed evasive plants and planted cone flowers in the park to replace some of the
native plantings that did not survive the summer.