• Article Photo. John Warren planting a spruce sapling for OWLT
    John Warren planting a spruce sapling for OWLT
  • Article Photo. Maple 5 at a 23-acre burn with their sponsors from SANC and OWLT
    Maple 5 at a 23-acre burn with their sponsors from SANC and OWLT

By Akari Iburi

Since the beginning of May, Vinton’s AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) team Maple 5 is in an epic invasive species battle with blankets of Alliaria Petiolata (garlic mustard), mangled forests of Rhamnus (buckthorn), and the deceitful yet beautiful blossoms of Hesperis Matronalis (dame’s rocket).

 The team is working with Ozaukee Washington Land Trust (OWLT) of Ozaukee County and Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (SANC) of Milwaukee County to eliminate these unwanted species that stump the space of growth and perseverance of native Wisconsin plants.

Within the first two weeks of Maple 5’s project, the team planted approximately 6,500 coniferous and deciduous trees in West Bend, WI for OWLT and over 200 cedar trees along the shores of Lake Michigan with volunteers at SANC.

 With green thumbs in practice, they rapidly shifted gear into invasive species removal, monitoring SANC’s 185-acre property and acres of OWLT’s land preserves throughout Ozaukee County. Their main culprits were garlic mustard, buckthorn, and dame’s rocket. These plants thrive in Wisconsin’s elements, rapidly reproduce, and overwhelm soils that once belonged to a large community of native species.

 Maple 5 also participated in a 23-acre burn on OWLT grasslands to help generate new growth matted down by layers of dead winter grass.

Not only has the team helped the efforts of removing invasive species for their sponsors, Maple 5 extended their invasive elimination efforts through volunteer projects with Wellspring’s Farm in West Bend and the Pine View Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Fredonia, WI.