Drenched volunteers rescue hundreds of woodland plants

Photo: Lindsay Hefferan, FMR

Despite multiple reschedulings courtesy of the spring snowpacolypse and a constant downpour the morning of the event, FMR and DNR volunteers moved hundreds of native woodland plants out of harms way at Hastings Scientific and Natural Area Saturday, May 18th.

It is normally illegal, not to mention unethical, to remove native plants from parks (more on why this is), but these would otherwise have been crushed by upcoming summer road construction. When she learned of the construction, FMR Senior Ecologist Karen Schik developed the restoration plans for the area and devised the plan to save the plants, which included hepatica, Virginia waterleaf, and lady fern among other Minnesota natives. On May 18th, 17 volunteers and three FMR staff placed hundreds of wildflowers and other plants in more than 125 large buckets. The plants will be carefully watched over and tended this summer and replanted by volunteers in the SNA this fall.

For more information, please see this excellent article by reporter and photographer Katrina Styx of the Hastings Star Gazette.

Photo: Lindsay Hefferan, FMR

Want to get your hands dirty, too?

FMR is the site steward for three river-related state Scientific and Natural Areas in the Mississippi River watershed. Upcoming events at other local SNAs include invasive species removals at the Sand Coulee SNA in Hastings, Thursday, June 27th and Pine Bend SNA in Inver Grove Heights, Thursday, July 11th.

The replanting at the Hastings SNA will be September 21st! Join us! Or, if you can't make it, sign up for notices of similar local activities by joining the Vermillion Stewards email list — roughly 8 emails a year on FMR volunteer and education events in the Vermillion River watershed (Lakeville, Farmington, Rosemount, Hastings and surrounding communities). To sign up email FMR Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator sue rich at srich@fmr.org.