Et cetera : NCCC Maple 7 Tackles invasive species and helps Lauritzen Gardens

Erica Ratner, Corey Milligan, and Emily Mickelson prepare envelopes for Lauritzen Gardens members.

The team poses on HawkWatch tower at Hitchcock Nature Center with supervisor James.

By Corey Milligan

Maple 7 started their last project in Omaha, Nebraska on October 18 with Lauritzen Gardens and finished on November 2. The team members were thrilled to close out the year with an environmental project, and they worked hard pulling weeds and invasive plant species out on the three-tiered resistance wall just off of Interstate 80. The team worked on completing the quarter of a mile long resistance wall as much as possible; it has been on Lauritzen Gardens’ list of projects for a while and the organization was relieved to have the team’s much needed help. 

Maple 7 also went to Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa, to help cut down dogwoods with brush cutters and mark stumps with herbicide. The team also picked a conglomeration of prairie seeds for the center to use for future prairie rehabilitation.

Near the end of the project, the team helped out with one of the special events that Laurtizen Gardens hosted, titled “Ghoulish Garden Adventures”. The members assisted volunteer staff at a variety of hands-on stations like Wicked Plants, where kids got to plant their own spider host plant and take it home with them. Maple 7 enjoyed seeing all of the kids in costumes and handing out candy.