City Parks Department Clears Way for Native Plants in Cascades Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2008

For more information contact
[Steve Cotter|mailto:cotters@bloomington.in.gov], Natural Resources Manager, City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, (812) 349-3736

Spencer Goehl, Eco Logic LLC, (812) 339-4011

Bloomington, IN - The City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, in cooperation with Eco Logic LLC and the Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area (SICWMA), are hosting a work day November 14 to remove invasive plants from Lower Cascades Park, 2851 N. Old State Road 37.

Volunteers will work from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the west slope of the park valley, from Cascades waterfall north to Clubhouse Drive. Community members who want to assist with the control project are welcome to attend.

Bush honeysuckle, a flowering shrub native to Asia and Western Europe, is outcompeting native vegetation in Lower Cascades Park. The control project is intended to help native plants and animals re-establish themselves in the Park. Graduate students from the Indiana University Department of Biology will gather data before and after the work day to study the effects of the bush honeysuckle infestation on soil characteristics and native plant populations.

Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department Natural Resources Manager Steve Cotter said Parks and Recreation staff and volunteers will follow a bush honeysuckle removal method developed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. According to Cotter, the DNR method requires the use of less herbicide than other traditional methods, and has proven to be effective.

Eco Logic is donating not only a day of staff time to the control project, but also the use of equipment and herbicide. Volunteers from SICWMA, IU, and the Bloomington Board of REALTORS® will manually pull up small bush honeysuckle. Larger trunks will be cut and the stumps painted with an herbicide solution. Pulled bushes will be placed in piles and dragged to the bottom of the hill when both weather and soil conditions are right.

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