Greening_Spring_04 - Great River Greening

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Message from the Executive Director
“EXOTIC PESTS RUN WILD IN
FLORIDA” WAS A HEADLINE RECENTLY
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.
It seems southern Florida is
teeming with Burmese pythons,
African monitor lizards and
South American Monk
parakeets—just some of the
more than 200 nonnative
species at large in Florida
because of careless or
unknowledgeable breeders,
battle against buckthorn.
dealers or owners. Monitors eat
the eggs of burrowing owls which are an endangered
species, pythons displace native snakes and parrots compete
with native owls and woodpeckers for nesting sites.
All across the country, every state has problems with
exotic animals and plants which affect the ecosystem.
Minnesota is no different. Asian carp have been in our
headlines recently as they steadily move up the
Mississippi and its tributaries, advancing 35 to 50 miles
a year and wreaking havoc on the aquatic ecosystems
they colonize.
Minnesota’s nonnative plants such as Eurasian
buckthorn, tartarian honeysuckle and garlic mustard are
no less destructive. Of the more than 2000 species in
Minnesota, about 20 percent are nonnative. Jay Rendall,
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Greening's Executive Director, Deborah Karasov, leads the
exotic species coordinator, says
that nonnative invasive species
are one, if not the top, threat to
native habitats in the state. One
reason is that invasive species
harm aquatic habitats and
protected habitats in parks and
preserves that are not
subject to destruction.
Greening fights invasive species
Great River Greening volunteers
and staff have been fighting
invasive species and promoting native species since our
beginning. We have six buckthorn removal events on our
2004 winter/spring calendar. For two years, we have
been one of a select group nationally to receive a grant
from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to
manage invasive plants through a coordinated program
of public/private partnership. The West Side Bluffs in
Saint Paul will benefit.
Greening helps people experience the huge scope of
the problem through invasive species removal events.
Once volunteers spend hours hacking away at thickets of
buckthorn, we believe they will be ever more sensitive as
voting citizens to policy, budget and resource questions
related to invasives, including the need for ongoing
monitoring and management.
—Deborah Karasov
Big Rivers Partnership meets goals
AS JUNE 2004 APPROACHES, GREAT RIVER GREENING IS
WRAPPING UP WORK ON THE BIG RIVERS PARTNERSHIP (BRP),
one of the first important restoration collaborative
organizations in the state. It was launched in 1999 and
continued in 2002 with funds from the Minnesota
Environmental Trust Fund as recommended by the
Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources
(LCMR). The Big Rivers Partnership brought together
nonprofit organizations, government agencies and
private landowners to restore critical river valley habitat
as well as to engage community volunteers in the metro
area’s most important natural resource feature—its three
major rivers, the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix.
What has BRP accomplished?
Great River Greening has coordinated all of the
BRP initiatives and is proud to announce that all of the
goals set by the LCMR have been met or exceeded. For
2002-2004, the LCMR appropriated $910,000 to BRP.
A previous $800,000 grant has already been completed
for 1999-2001.
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A PUBLICATION To volunteer for OF any GREAT of Great River RIVER Greening’s GREENING events, register online SPRING at 2002
35 West Water Street, www.greatrivergreening.org Suite 201, Saint Paul, under Minnesota “Volunteer” 55107 or • 651-665-9500 call Jane at 651-665-9500 • www.greatrivergreening.org
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