Page last updated on October 17, 2019 at 5:08 pm
The Vegetation Management Team in 2018 worked to remove invasive plants and protect native habitats on most of the properties the Parks and Recreation Department manages. The most common invasives targeted were: Asian bush honeysuckle, Canada thistle, Callery pear, garlic mustard, Japanese stiltgrass, Johnson grass, Oriental bittersweet, and purple wintercreeper.
The 2018 team was composed of 6.5 staff (1.5 FT and 5 seasonals). Over the year they worked to educate the public by working with MC-IRIS on Sustaining Nature And Your Land Day at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market and at an Invasive/Native Plant Awareness Day at RCA Community Park, and worked with more than 100 volunteers. Collectively, more than 3,500 hours of actual hands on invasive plant management occurred in 2018.
This report was presented to the Board of Park Commissioners at their regular meeting on January 22, 2019.