Indiana Invasive Species Awareness Week - Day 6
SICIM Email
HC RIPS Weed Wrangles for 104 Days Straight!
with Liz Yetter, SICIM East Central Regional Specialist
Henry County Removes Invasive Plant Species or HC-RIPS formed in 2019 and their mission is: To restore Henry County’s unique plant community through education and inspiration for eradicating invasive species. Even with the challenges of 2020 HC-RIPS continue to meet virtually with the first part of every meeting dedicated to education with either a discussion about a single species or a new treatment technique. In 2020 HC-RIPS also increased their community presence by increasing their Facebook traffic and getting several articles published in the local newspaper. In September of 2020 they assisted the Henry County Saddle club in removing invasive plants from their landscaping.
“Invasive plants cleared by HC-RIPS”. These yellow signs are likely to start popping up all around Henry County. Most notably at Westwood park where the HC-RIPS strike team has been working for 104 days straight! Starting in February 2021, various member of the HC-RIPS Strike team have been out at Westwood park. Lead by Helen Steussy who has been there for all 100 days and counting, the group has been started work on a 35-acre section of this 800-acre park, 180 acres of which is a lake. This small yet determined group has made excellent progress on in the past few months clearing countless stems of Asian bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, burning bush and various other invasive plants. In addition to removing invasive species from Westwood the group has been cataloguing the native plant species that have been found in the woods, so far 50 different species have been sited. Westwood Park is owned by Big Blue River Conservancy District.
To follow HC-RIPS progress at Westwood or to get involved check them out on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/HCRIPS/ or contact Helen Steussy at hsteussy@comcast.net.
HC-RIPS currently is meeting virtually the first Monday of each month, their next meeting is May 3.
Stay tuned throughout the week to see more highlights of CISMAs or other partners and their efforts for improved land management. Be sure to visit the Indiana Invasives Initiative linktree to read more and find events in your area.
