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City of Duluth and Hartley Nature Center Working on a Community Invasion

It’s everywhere in Duluth-you’ve probably seen this invader in your neighborhood or maybe even in your back yard. Blending in well with many native plants, it can be tall, green, and quite healthy well into the fall. Despite its “good” looks, the invasive, non-native buckthorn can be devastating to native plants, trees, and wildlife habitat. To combat this invader, Hartley Nature Center and the City of Duluth Parks and Recreation is holding two community informational sessions to inform residents about this plant and how to control it. The free public sessions will be held on Saturday, April 28 from 10-11:30am and on Wednesday, May 9 from 6:30-8pm.

As they do each year, Hartley Nature Center (HNC) and the City of Duluth Parks and Recreation Department have recruited volunteers to slow down this invasion in Hartley Park and other areas around Duluth. Additionally this past year, Hartley Nature Center has secured a grant from the Minnesota Power Foundation to fund an educational and restoration demonstration project. The project will focus on a four acre section of Hartley Park that has been created as an educational area of native plantings and restoration. Buckthorn was removed last fall and now the center is gearing up to replant the treated area this spring.

Community members are invited to Hartley Nature Center to learn about buckthorn control methods they can use in their yards and neighborhoods. They can also walk through the demonstration area to see first hand the impact of buckthorn and can return to the same area to look at the results of future restoration efforts.

Informational links on buckthorn can be found on Hartley’s website at www.hartleynature.org. For more information on the demonstration project, contact Brett Amundson at HNC at 724-6735 or e-mail bamundson@hartleynature.org or contact Judy Gibbs, Parks and Recreation at jgibbs@duluthmn.gov

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