Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Saves the Environment with University of Wisconsin Arboretum

Dakota Patterson from Bethel, Maine weeding in the nursery garden

Sky van Waveren from Burmingham, Alabama pulls invasive Garlic Mustard plants

By Zach Carpenter

When AmeriCorps NCCC team Oak 7 arrived at the University of Wisconsin (UW) Arboretum, they knew very little about native ecology. During this service project, Oak 7 has learned to recognize invasive plants such as Garlic Mustard, Yellow Rocket, Dame’s Rocket, and Honeysuckle which disrupt the food web by being inedible to insects. In turn, the invasive species crowd out the native species, which in turn reduces the food supply for all of the wildlife in the forest. The team has scoured over 1200 acres and filled over 200 contractor’s bags with the invasive plants in a race against time before they can spread more seeds. On top of this Oak 7 got to manicure the Native Plant Garden and the Longenecker Garden, by weeding, mulching, and clearing dead brush.

“We’re really excited about our team’s environmental contributions to such a progressive city and to be a part of such a multi-facetted and long standing program.” says Sky van Waveren, NCCC team member from Birmingham, Alabama.

The UW Arboretum is a wildlife preserve founded in the early 1930s by pioneer conservationist, Aldo Leopold, in order to re-establish natural landscapes that had been turned into farmland. From 1935 to 1941 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did much of the labor necessary to accomplishing this task. The UW Arboretum is home of America’s first prairie restoration, Curtis Prairie, as well as the world famous Longenecker Garden, which contains millions of dollars’ worth of trees from around the world. Their mission is to conserve and restore arboretum land, advance restoration ecology, and foster the land ethic.

Caption 1: Dakota Patterson from Bethel, Maine weeding in the nursery garden

Caption 2: Sky van Waveren from Burmingham, Alabama pulls invasive Garlic Mustard plants