Using goats to control buckthorn and other invasive species

To learn more about managing invasive species with goats, join the East Metro Water Resource Education Program, Washington County Parks, and The Munch Bunch for an outdoor workshop on Tuesday, May 3, 6-7pm at Big Marine Park Reserve.

Register at tinyurl.com/2022goats.

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Tree care and woodland management

If you are working to remove large areas of buckthorn, MyMinnesotaWoods staff advise that late summer and fall are the best times to cut and treat buckthorn stumps with herbicide in order to prevent regrowth.

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Transformation underway at Sunfish Lake Park

Sunfish Lake Park visitors will immediately notice the changes on site, where contractors and volunteers have been clearing buckthorn since late winter.

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New trails highlight major changes at Lake Elmo Park Reserve

This year, Washington County launched a major transformation at Lake Elmo Park Reserve, aided in part by a grant from the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund. The park has added a new parking lot and entrance off of Inwood Ave., created new trails, and began work to restore 166 acres of prairie and oak savanna. On the east side of the park near the Nordic Center, Washington County added 2.2 miles of new ski trails.

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Transformation underway at Lake Elmo Park Reserve

Washington County secured funding through the Outdoor Heritage Fund to restore and improve 166 acres of prairie and oak savanna at Lake Elmo Park Reserve around Eagle Point Lake and in the north end of the park.

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Search for hidden treasure, and sometimes you find goats

Charlie and I excitedly watched our beacon move ever closer to the hidden cache as we hiked down a trail into the woods. 350 feet to go. 300 feet to go. 100 feet to go! Then we heard a plaintive bleat from behind the trees. Had I heard a goat?

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Friends of Sunfish Lake Park lands $139,000 grant to manage buckthorn

This summer, Friends of Sunfish Lake Park secured a $139,000 grant from the Minnesota Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program to remove buckthorn and restore native plants in 40 acres of the park. The City of Lake Elmo will contribute $10,000 to the project and volunteers will provide at least 300 hours of in-kind support as well.

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Volunteers work to restore Fairy Falls with help from the Stillwater Area Community Foundation

Nestled deep in the woods on the north side of Stillwater, Fairy Falls is a well-loved and well-guarded local secret. Unless someone tells you where to go, you’d never think to park on the side of the road and hike through the brambles on an unmarked trail in search of a cascading waterfall, steep gorge…

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So long sweet summer! Prepping lawns and gardens for the winter

By now, you’ve probably picked the last of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants growing in your vegetable gardens. The predicted frost never quite made it to my house last weekend, but I know it’s only a matter of time before the winter temps will settle in for good. As you begin to prepare your lawn…

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Living the buckthorn and bittersweet life

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I have a faint (ever-so-faint) recollection of the carefree joy I used to feel while hiking in the woods. “Aren’t these woods pretty?” I would think. “Look at all those pretty wildflowers along the roadside. Isn’t life grand?” My bliss was permanently disrupted, though, when I took my first ecology class…

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