Youth participants gang up on a large white sweet clover, an invasive plant, to pull it from the hard ground. Determined effort and teamwork was sometimes needed with the larger, more firmly-rooted plants. Targeted invasive species included spotted knapweed, white sweet clover, and nodding thistle.

About 30 youth and leaders from the Summer Stretch program, a coalition of about 70 area churches, spent two hours pulling invasive plants at Indian Mounds Park in Saint Paul while learning about the river and the life that surrounds it.

This autumn, according to Gabriel Burns, NPS Ranger with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, volunteers will plant native plant seedlings in the same area, but removal of invasive species is an important first step in restoring the more desirable prairie flowers and grasses.

Todd Wildenauer of St. Ambrose described the Summer Stretch program as exposing youth to new situations and social issues, while providing an avenue to exercise leadership skills. Wildenauer explained that St. Ambrose has one of the larger youth groups in the Summer Stretch program and that the youth help many organizations over the summer by volunteering their services to organizations, such as the NPS and homeless shelters, among others. It is, he explained, all about helping the youth help others.

Sarah Kuyack, a youth participant from St. Thomas the Apostle, took a break from struggling with a particularly large sweet clover plant. She wiped sweat from her forehead with the cuff of a glove and explained that removing exotic and invasive species would help the environment. She mentioned that on a previous visit her group also pulled invasive species.

The day won’t be all work though, Wildenauer grinned, after lunch they’ll take the group to a surprise recreation location, such as a waterpark.

Would you like to volunteer? Contact Tom Ibsen, Park Ranger and Volunteers-in-Park Manager, at 651-290-3030, ext. 233 or by e-mail to discuss volunteer opportunities at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.  See opportunities that are available for you or your group to get involved in habitat restoration at our Current Opportunities page.