Restore Saint Paul: Conservation Corps Update: August 21-24th

Friday, August 24, 2012

Conservation Corps Update: August 21-24th

Post contributed by Conservation Corps of Minnesota Youth Outdoors Crew 2:

Como Raingarden maintenance

We started the week by finishing off prepping the rain gardens for the Minnesota State Fair. They looked really good, and the additional signage should encourage citizens to pursue them in their own communities.

Later in the week, we continued the fight against invasive species. We focused efforts on two sites: Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom, or CWOC, and Pickerel Lake at Lilydale Regional Park. We started the year at CWOC working against smaller herbaceous plants like burdock and garlic mustard, and we've seen a big improvement in those areas and their season is nearly done. We moved onto clearing out some larger trees and shrubs, targeting the invasive buckthorn. This is a very fast growing, aggressive. We removed buckthorn and thinned out unwanted boxelder trees to encourage biodiversity. The areas looked a lot healthier when we were done.

Clipping seed heads of purple loosestrife

At Pickerel Lake, we worked on clipping seed heads from an invasive species called Purple Loosestrife. Although it produces a pretty magenta flower, it has begun spreading through the prairie that borders that lake. Purple loosestrife is extremely aggressive and doesn’t provide high quality habitat and nutrition for wildlife like our native species of plants do. We're working to control invasives and maintain the native biodiversity of this beautiful prairie.

Don't forget to check out these sites in person:

Pickerel Lake at Lilydale Regional Park

Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom

Contributing Authors

Saint Paul Parks and Recreation--Natural Resources Division:

It would be impossible for us to maintain and improve Saint Paul's natural areas to the high standards that we are used to without the coordinated efforts of our many partner organizations and volunteers. In addition to Saint Paul's Natural Resources employees, the following groups will be contributing to the content of this blog as they work hard to keep Saint Paul "the most livable city in America."

Conservation Corps of Minnesota:

The Conservation Corps provides meaningful work for young people in conserving energy, managing natural resources, responding to disasters and leading volunteers. Not only do they provide training in resource management, safety, job-readiness and technical skills, they help young people develop personal responsibility, a strong work ethic and greater awareness of environmental stewardship. CCM has been a valuable partner in maintaining Saint Paul Parks natural areas for years.

Eco Ranger Acadamy:

The Environmental Services EcoRanger Academy is an educational summer job program for youth interested in plants, wildlife and the natural environment. Youth work throughout the City in forests, lakes and prairies on restoration projects. They perform tasks such as invasive species removal, planting and mulching. The program covers plant anatomy and identification, trees, entomology, water, soils and ecology. Youth that successfully complete the summer program graduate with a certificate and references from their crew leaders.