These boots were made for Mil-waulkin'

Our most recent service event brought us to the Urban Ecology Center at Washington Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Center aims to provide outdoor science education for youth, promote community by offering resources that support learning, volunteerism, stewardship, recreation, and camaraderie, and protect and enhance natural areas and the surrounding waters. Our project with the UEC involved removing various nonnative weeds from an area of rehabilitated prairie as well as the removal of an exotic invasive shrub called buckthorn.

On the morning of the event thunderstorms threatened to put a damper on the day, but the crew kept positive and we prepared the way we would for any event. Apparently the volunteers had the same idea because we had a great turnout from Southwest, AirTran and a special appearance from the Milwaukee SCA High school group. After we were welcomed to the park and given a brief history of the area by Willie and Joel from the UEC, we made the short walk to our worksite and got down to business. One group of volunteers scoured the one year-old prairie, removing load after load of nonnative weeds. The other group went to work pulling buckthorn from around the prairie and along a fence line. This was no simple task as mature buckthorn is more like a tree than a shrub, and it took the use of shovels, weed wrenches, and saws to remove it.

After all was said and done, nearly thirty wheelbarrows worth of weeds and buckthorn were removed and carted away to a composting area, and as an added bonus not only did it the weather hold out but it turned into an excellent sunny morning. The Tour 40 team considers our service event at the Urban Ecology Center a huge success and we would like to thank everyone who came out and played a part!

Andrew
and the Tour 40 Team