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Saturday, April 2, 2005

Location:

Pine Bend Bluffs SNA, Inver Grove Heights

Forty-one volunteers, eager to be outside on a gorgeous spring day, showed up at Pine Bend Bluffs SNA on Saturday, April 2, to haul and stack buckthorn. Under sunny skies and a warm breeze, enormous amounts of brush were removed from the edge of the high-quality oak forest. Several veteran volunteers who are “brush pile engineers” helped guide the process, so the piles will burn well next winter.

Volunteers frequently paused to gaze at the beautiful tundra swan formations that passed over, calling as they went. Bald eagles, turkey vultures and other raptors were also common sights. Wonderful glimpses of the river, 1/4 mile away, can now be seen through the forest.

Thank you to the many volunteers for helping to restore a Minnesota treasure!

Pictures from the event

[Photo: Portion of Pine Bend SNA before buckthorn removal.]

Restoration “Unit A” shown before buckthorn was cut and removed. Buckthorn is an invasive exotic species that chokes out native vegetation and provides poor habitat for wildlife.

[Photo: Volunteers stacking the cut buckthorn.]

Some volunteers, experienced with burning work, helped engineer the stacking to optimize burning.

Volunteers stack the buckthorn removed from restoration areas. These stacks will be burned and the burn and restoration sites carefully monitored to eliminate buckthorn seedlings as they try to reestablish themselves.