Et cetera : NCCC Cedar 2 Restores Land with Stronghold Camp & Retreat Center

Sylar treating leafy spurge by glove of death

Cedar 2 removes garlic mustard

By: Jean Laney

AmeriCorps NCCC team Cedar 2 is leaving their mark by removing invasive plant species from Stronghold Camp & Retreat Center. These species are not native and are harmful to thriving native plants on Stronghold’s land and the city of Oregon, Illinois. For three weeks, the team has been assisting in different polygons (areas of land specified by maps) removing leafy spurge, Garlic Mustard and Japanese barberry trees.

So far, Cedar 2 has removed 5 tons of invasive species from eight different areas on the 360 acres of land of Stronghold Camp & Retreat Center.

"The most challenging thing on the work site is being aware of all the native species, while trying to remove all the ones that are harmful to our ecosystem," reflects Sylas Walker, a team member of Cedar 2 from Loganton. Pennsylvania, on the ecosystem at the camp.

At Stronghold Camp & Retreat Center, their mission is to help the land thrive, so it can become livable for animals along with native species like white oak trees, maple trees and wild berries. This mission is a twenty-year process, but the staff of Stronghold is ecstatic that NCCC is leaving a deep imprint for them to maintain.

Cedar 2 also had the opportunity to assist the Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, Illinois by removing honeysuckle with basal bark treatment and collecting brush from recent prescribed burnings. The team enjoyed seeing how the animals, like Bison herds, had a chance to eat healthy native fruits and plants from a clean ecosystem.