Edina Robotics FIRST Team 1816 lived up to its “green” reputation recently, working with community groups and officials to clear designated areas of buckthorn, a non-native invasive tree. At Wood Lake Nature Center, Richfield, team members worked with the center’s naturalist to clear buckthorn from the forest area of the 150-acre nature park. The effort was aimed at helping restore the area’s native diversity of its forest species. After clearing buckthorn, the team helped plant a maple tree in another area of the park.
The team also spent much of Earth Day as part of a crew at Edina High School to clear buckthorn from an area around the tennis courts of the school campus. James Hovland, Mayor of the City the Edina, pulled buckthorn alongside team members and students from the high school during the daylong event. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and many cities in the metropolitan area regularly conduct buckthorn removal efforts, and encourage property owners to do the same on their own property. For more information about buckthorn and its removal, visit the Minnesota DNR’s Website.